Fall 2009 - Bishop's University

Chantal Hébert
Nancy Knowlton
Convocation photos by Perry Beaton ‘72
Mr. Chancellor, this day is a good day;
on this day the people on this stage
get to acknowledge and celebrate the
accomplishments of the graduating students of
Bishop’s University AND the accomplishments
of distinguished Canadians who have served the
public and the country with dignity, fairness and
intelligence.
Among those Canadians, on this day and
on this stage, I am pleased to acknowledge the
accomplishments of Chantal Hébert, national
affairs columnist for the Toronto Star, political
commentator on the CBC’s The National and Radio-
Canada’s Les coulisses du pouvoir. Ms. Hébert’s
talents as a journalist include insightful commentary,
timely analysis and astute political observation
as demonstrated by her 2007 book, French Kiss:
Stephen Harper’s Blind Date with Quebec. Her
account of the Conservative Party’s electoral
breakthrough in Quebec in 2006 has been praised as
an objective and insightful analysis of the then state
of Quebec-federal politics.
Ms. Hébert is also passionate about her work.
While on this day many Canadians view the world
with a jaundiced eye, are paralyzed by cynicism and
even despair about the state of politics in this country,
Ms. Hébert’s writings and public discussions offer
an alternative approach to political analysis, one that
is based on fairness, dignity and respect for politics
and politicians. Ms. Hébert received the 2005 Public
Service Citation of the Association of Professional
Executives of the Public Service of Canada and in
February 2006 the Public Policy Forum presented her
with the Hyman Solomon Award for Excellence in
Public Policy Journalism.
As her peers and colleagues have acknowledged
her talents and accomplishments, so too, on this day,
does Bishop’s University. Monsieur le chancelier, il me
fait plaisir de vous présenter madame Chantal Hébert
pour un doctorat honorifique.
Dr. Jean Manore, History Department
6 BISHOP'S UNIVERSITY NEWS FALL 2009
I
am privileged and honoured to introduce
Nancy Knowlton ’75, one of Bishop’s most
accomplished graduates. A cursory examination
of Nancy’s achievements might lead one to believe
her successes relate most particularly to the world of
business, although it must be acknowledged that her
decorations as an athlete are also impressive.
As CEO and Co-Founder of SMART Technologies,
she has been recognized as the Canadian Woman
Entrepreneur of the Year in the Export category,
winner of the Prairies Region Technology
Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Manning
Innovation Award, the Alberta Centennial Medal
recognizing the innovativeness of her work, and the
TeleSpan Pace Award.
Yet her achievements in education, and the promise
those achievements hold, resound as strongly as her
business successes and may come to be felt more
deeply in society. Her involvement with educational
review in Alberta and her generosity in the
establishment of the SMARTer Kids Foundation are
significant indications of her interest in linking her
business endeavours to what happens in schools.
The Smart Board technology that stems from her
entrepreneurial spirit, in her words, is meant to “put
technology at the service of learning.”... Her notions
of the “Classroom in the Twenty-First Century…
Today” have translated into contexts for teaching and
learning that offer new ways for teachers to deliver
courses and new ways for learners to interact with the
materials and subject content...
We recognize ... the far-sighted vision of Nancy...
The combination of her entrepreneurial sense and
innovative spirit, used in a commitment to worthy
goals in education, has resulted in important changes
in the way classrooms are now structured.
Nancy has been a dynamic, determined and
effective leader as an athlete, educator and
entrepreneur... Mr. Chancellor, I present to you for
the degree of Doctor of Civil Law (Honoris causa),
Ms. Nancy Knowlton.
Dr. Cathy Beauchamp, Dean, School of Education