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OTTAWA, June 11, 2011  —  Today the University of Ottawa will proudly award diplomas to 278 students of the Faculty of Engineering, as well as to 825 from the Faculty of Arts. This will be done during three ceremonies, at 9:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, in Southam Hall.

Along with our talented students, three leading figures will be honoured:

Leonard Lee is a Saskatchewan-born inventor and entrepreneur. An engineering and economics graduate, he worked as a civil servant before launching Lee Valley Tools, the internationally-known gardening and woodworking mail-order phenomenon. He subsequently launched three more successful companies, Veritas Tools, Algrove Publishing and Canica Design, a medical/surgical instrument company.
Ceremony I – Faculty of Engineering – 9:30 a.m.

Mary Robinson became Ireland’s first female president in 1990. In 1997, she became United Nations high commissioner for human rights, a position she held for five years. She was president of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative from 2002 to 2010, and currently serves as president of the Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice.
Ceremony II – Faculty of Arts I – 2:30 p.m.

Ingrid Parent is University of British Columbia chief librarian and president-elect of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. She has held a number of positions in the federal government, and has worked with international bodies such as UNESCO. The future of libraries in the digital age is a focus of her work.
Ceremony III – Faculty of Arts II – 7:30 p.m.