2010 Vancouver Olympic & Paralympic Super-Thread

[GeeCee]

This might cause some heads to explode..

VANOC CEO John Furlong receiving UBC honorary degree

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - VANOC CEO John Furlong is one of 12 distinguished Canadians being recognized by UBC with honorary degrees this year. Comedian Rick Mercer, writer Douglas Coupland and astronaut Julie Payette are also receiving degrees.

The honorary degrees recognize people who have made "substantial contributions to society the provincial, national and/or international levels". The degrees will be awarded during the Vancouver campus Spring Congregation (May 26 to June 2) and Fall Congregation (Nov. 24 to Nov. 26).

Furlong, who came to Canada from Ireland more than three decades ago, was also the President and COO for the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation. Rick Mercer is a Canadian comedian, TV personality and political satirist, but he's also co-chair of the Spread the Net campaign, which provides bed nets to protect children in Africa from malaria. Mercer is also an advocate for the environment and people living with HIV/AIDS.

Douglas Coupland is a Vancouver-based writer and artist, perhaps best known for his first novel, Generation X, which became a major cultural phenomenon after being published in 1990. Julie Payette flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1999, and Endeavour in 2009. Payette helped carry the Olympic flag during the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Other Vancouver campus recipients, in alphabetical order:

Dr. James C. Hogg, founder of the Pulmonary Research Laboratory at St. Paul's Hospital (renamed in 2003) and a member of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
Maria Klawe, a former Dean of Science at UBC and the President of Harvey Mudd College in California
Alanis Obomsawin, a distinguished documentary filmmaker and advocate for Aboriginal filmmaking
Louis Nirenberg (Fall recipient), an exceptional mathematician and committed educator
Dal Richards, the leader of the Dal Richards Orchestra, which has performed at the Pacific National Exhibition for 70 consecutive years
Ian Wallace, an artist, theorist and scholar who has taught and mentored some of Vancouver's most noteworthy artists
Ibrahim Gedeon, Chief Technology Officer at TELUS Communications Inc.
Dr. Nora Volkow, an internationally recognized leader in addiction medicine and Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
UBC's Okanagan campus holds its Convocation ceremony on June 11, and will award an honorary degree to Dr. Samantha Nutt, founder of the humanitarian organization War Child Canada.

http://www.news1130.com/news/local/artic...hn-furlong-receiving-ubc-honorary-degree