Mike Babcock to receive honorary doctorate from McGill
The honorees will share the stage with approximately 1,800 graduating students at the ceremonies to be held on Monday, November 25, 2013 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts, in Montreal.
MIKE BABCOCK, Doctor of Laws, honoris causa
Monday, November 25, 2013 – 2:30 p.m.
(Faculties and Schools: Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Continuing Studies, Dentistry, Engineering, Management, Medicine)
A former co-captain of the McGill Redmen hockey team, Mike Babcock (BEd ‘86) is known worldwide for coaching winning teams, whether it is in the National Hockey League as Head Coach of the Detroit Red Wings or on the international stage. Since he began his coaching career in the NHL, his teams have won more regular season and playoff games than any other team in the league. Mike Babcock is the only coach among the members of the prestigious Triple Gold Club, having won the World Championships in 2004, the Stanley Cup in 2008, and an Olympic gold medal in 2010.
Above all, Mike Babcock’s name is synonymous with the achievement of excellence, the subject of his 2012 book, Leave No Doubt, highlighting the theme that one cannot accomplish great things without facing great adversity and making peace with uncertainty. For over a decade, Mike Babcock has brought this message on countless visits to children’s hospitals where he spends time getting to know cancer patients and their families.
RICHARD A. WALLS AND CAROLINA J. WALLS, Doctors of Science, honoris causa
Monday, November 25, 2013 – 10 a.m.
(Faculties and Schools: Arts, Education, Law, Music, Religious Studies, Science)
Kentucky native Richard A. Walls founded and built five companies in the energy business after earning a PhD in Geology from McGill in 1978. An entrepreneurial leader in the industry, he has been responsible for significant oil and gas discoveries in North America. Carolina Walls, originally from Chile, came to McGill by way of New Brunswick, receiving her BSc in Psychology in 1985. She then attended the University of Alberta Law School and practiced primarily in the areas of immigration and refugee law.
Richard and Carolina Walls have maintained strong ties with their alma mater. The couple first raised funds to support the T. H. Clark Chair in Sedimentary and Petroleum Geology in memory of the iconic paleontologist and geologist who taught at McGill until the age of 99. Again thanks to their generosity, McGill established, in 2008, the scholarship program “Best in the West”, that assists students from British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan enrolling at McGill. Richard and Carolina Walls also support many causes and organizations in Alberta and Calgary, their long-time home.
Contact:
Julie Fortier
Associate Director, Media Relations
McGill University
514-398-6751
514-884-1587 (cell.)
julie.c.fortier [at] mcgill.ca
