January 20, 2006

A Prince George-based writer and a national champion of scientificresearch will be the two recipients of honorary degrees from theUniversity of Northern British Columbia in 2006.

Thomas Brzustowski (pronounced Brew-STOFF-ski) has had a distinguishedcareer as a scientist, playing a vital role as President of Canada’sNatural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for ten years,starting in 1995. Under his leadership, industry support for researchand innovation flourished. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree inEngineering from the University of Toronto in 1958 and earned a PhD inAeronautical Engineering from Princeton in 1963. He was a professor inMechanical Engineering at the University of Waterloo and becameVice-President Academic in 1974. Currently, he is a Professor in theUniversity of Ottawa’s School of Management, where he is responsiblefor disseminating the results of research and innovation to thefinancial community and government. He is an Officer of the Order ofCanada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Barry McKinnon has lived in Prince George for 37 years and has beenteaching English at the College of New Caledonia since it opened. Overthe course of nearly four decades, he has inspired generations ofnorthern writers and added his own poetic voice to the nation’sliterary culture. He has authored 15 books of poetry and numerousjournal and anthology publications. He has also organized more than 100readings in Prince George, attracting the likes of Margaret Atwood,Michael Ondaatje, and former Prince George writer Brian Fawcett. He isa past recipient of a BC book award and been short-listed for theGovernor-General’s Award for Poetry.

The 2006 honorary degrees will be presented at the annual Convocation ceremony, which will be on Friday, May 26.

An honorary degree is the highest award presented by the University andrecognizes outstanding public service of national significance. Pastrecipients have included Haida artist Bill Reid, formerGovernor-General Ramon Hnatyshyn, and BC Premiers Bill Vander Zalm andMike Harcourt.

Contact:
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC - 250.960-5622