The Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands, a past Professor of Poetry at Oxford, a manufacturing industry titan and two world-renowned economists will receive honorary degrees when Western University hosts its 308th Convocation this fall.
The ceremonies are scheduled for the following days:
Sabine Nölke
Thursday, October 27, 10 a.m.
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Western alumna Sabine Nölke serves as the Ambassador of Canada to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Permanent Representative of Canada to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. A recipient of a Minister of Foreign Affairs Award for Foreign Policy Excellence and a specialist in international law, Ms. Nölke spent most of her career advising the Canadian government on issues relating to the law of international peace and security, armed conflict, international crimes and human rights. She was formerly the Director-General of the Non-Proliferation and Security Threat Reduction Bureau.
Sir Christopher Ricks
Thursday, October 27, 3 p.m.
Doctor of Letters, honoris causa (DLitt)
Sir Christopher Ricks is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University, having formerly been an English professor at the University of Bristol and the University of Cambridge. The renowned literary critic and editor was elected Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford in 2004 – a hotly contested academic position that has been held by many notables over the past 308 years, including Matthew Arnold, A.C. Bradley, W.H. Auden, and Robert Graves.
Frank Hasenfratz
Friday, October 28, 10 a.m.
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
Chairman of the Board of Linamar, Frank Hasenfratz founded the now multi-billion-dollar global manufacturing company as a one-man shop in the basement of his home in 1964. Born in Hungary in 1935, Hasenfratz attended trade and engineering technical schools while working as a toolmaker and machinist. He immigrated to Canada in 1957 and was a supervisor at Sinterings Ltd. until the formation of Linamar in 1966. A member of the Order of Canada, Hasenfratz was recognized for his philanthropy and leadership in the manufacturing industry.
David Laidler & Michael Parkin
Friday, October 28, 3 p.m.
Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (LLD)
A graduate of the London School of Economics, Syracuse University, and the University of Chicago, award-winning economist David Laidler taught at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Essex and the University of Manchester before joining Western’s Department of Economics in 1975 where he is still Professor Emeritus. In 1998, he served as Visiting Economist and Special Adviser to the Governor of the Bank of Canada. Co-recipient of the 2004-05 Donner Prize for his book Two Percent Target: Canadian Monetary Policy Since 1991, Laidler is also the author of The Demand for Money – Theories and Evidence and Introduction to Microeconomics, as well as Essays on Money and Inflation, The Golden Age of the Quantity Theory, and Fabricating the Keynesian Revolution.
A highly-influential economist, Michael Parkin co-wrote Economics and Foundations of Economics, two of the best-selling introductory texts in economics that are published in dozens of editions and languages around the world, with his wife Robin Bade and has published more than 160 journal articles and edited volumes on the financial and monetary system, monetary policy, and inflation. After studying economics at the University of Leicester and holding appointments at the University of Sheffield, the University of Essex and the University of Manchester, Parkin joined Western’s Department of Economics in 1975, where he remains Professor Emeritus.
MEDIA CONTACT: For more information or to arrange interviews with the honorary degree recipients on the day of Convocation, please contact Jeff Renaud, Senior Media Relations Officer, at 519-661-2111, ext. 85165 or jrenaud9@uwo.ca
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