March 3, 1999 For Immediate Release

The Founding President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia, Geoffrey R. Weller, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Administrative Science at the University of Lapland in Finland at a Convocation Ceremony to be held in early June 1999. He was UNBC President from 1991 to 1995 and is currently a Professor of International Studies at UNBC.

The honorary doctorate, which is the highest honour that a university can bestow, is being awarded to Professor Weller in recognition of his work over the past two decades in initiating and developing international circumpolar university cooperation and in expanding the international activities of the University of Lapland with Canadian universities.

The University of Lapland is located in Rovaniemi and serves the people of northern Finland. The convocation ceremony at which the honorary degree will be conferred is part of the twentieth anniversary celebrations of the founding of the university. The number of Faculties at the university has grown steadily over the years and now includes a Faculty of Law and a Faculty of Art and Design. UNBC currently has an exchange agreement with the University of Lapland.

Geoffrey Weller began his career at Bishop's University in 1965. He then moved to Lakehead University in 1971 and there became Dean of Arts and then Vice-President (Academic) before becoming the Founding President at UNBC in 1991. He has been a member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Chair of the Association of Circumpolar Universities, Chair of the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies, the Chairman of the Thunder Bay District Health Council, and several other organisations.