UBC’s Vancouver campus grad ceremonies start Wednesday, May 25

Event: UBC’s Vancouver campus Spring Congregation
6,500 students graduate
Seven honorary degrees

Dates / Times: 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. on:

Wednesday, May 25
Thursday, May 26
Friday, May 27
(Saturday, May 28: First Nations Longhouse Graduation Celebration for UBC Aboriginal graduates at 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.)
Monday, May 30
Tuesday, May 31
Wednesday, June 1 (Note: No 4 p.m. ceremony)

Assignment/Photo Editors:

Media authorization is required to cover congregation ceremonies in the Chan Centre. Please call Heather Amos at 604.822.3213 or 604.828.3867 to arrange. Stationary camera space is very limited. Please arrive early. Handheld cameras highly recommended. A media feed will be provided.

More than 6,500 grads will cross the stage at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts to receive their degrees.

Undergraduate and graduate degrees from all 12 Vancouver campus faculties will be conferred at 23 ceremonies. A media release with grad profiles and interview opportunities will be issued Wednesday, May 25.

In addition, seven honorary degrees will be given (see below for recipients). The webcast of the event and full schedule of events can be found at www.graduation.ubc.ca

Location: The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, 6265 Crescent Rd.
For a map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca/?130 .

Parking: Media may park at the Rose Garden Parkade, located adjacent to the Chan Centre off Northwest Marine Drive.

The First Nations Longhouse special graduation celebration is by invitation only. Media interested in covering this event should contact Thane Bonar at 604-822-4648 or fnhl.research@ubc.ca. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 28, in the Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall, First Nations Longhouse, 1985 West Mall. For a map, visit: www.maps.ubc.ca/?337 .

Honorary degree recipients

May 25

1:30 p.m. Diane Loomer, an internationally acclaimed choral conductor, educator and composer and the founder of two award-winning choirs: Elektra and Chor Leoni.

May 26

11 a.m. Jack Austin, a Canadian senator who worked to establish the Asia Pacific Foundation. He was also instrumental in Vancouver’s bids for Expo ’86 and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

1:30 p.m. Thomas Wing Fat Fung, the founder and CEO of the Fairchild Group and an important force economically and socially in Vancouver.

4 p.m. Kenneth Lyotier, founder of United We Can, a non-profit social enterprise that provides a source of employment for residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

May 27

11 a.m. Leon Bibb, a singer, guitarist and actor who has had a long and distinguished career as an international performer.

May 30

11 a.m. Nancy Jean Turner, an ethnobotanist and Distinguished Professor in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria.

May 31

11 a.m. James Allen McEwen, a pioneer of the Canadian biomedical engineering industry and the inventor of the microprocessor-controlled automatic surgical tourniquet system.

-30-

The University of British Columbia