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Three honorary doctorates to be awarded at Encaenia

Three honorary doctorates to be awarded at Encaenia

 

The University of King’s College is delighted to announce that Ronald Cutler, Elizabeth Fountain, and Lewis Lapham will receive honorary doctorates at its spring Encaenia ceremony on May 17, 2012 at the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Halifax.

The Right Reverend Ron Cutler was born in Montreal. While studying pure and applied sciences at CEGEP, he felt the call to ordained ministry in the Anglican Church. He graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Theology and was ordained deacon and priest in the diocese of Central Newfoundland in 1981. He served as the rector of two parishes in Newfoundland, both of which consisted of small, rural communities on the northeast coast of Newfoundland that were experiencing changes in the fishing industry and the first effects of the oil boom. In 1991 he became rector of Trinity Church in Sydney Mines with St Peter & St John in Baddeck, again a community undergoing change as the coal mining industry all but disappeared. In 1996 he moved to Lower Sackville to become rector of the Parish of St John the Evangelist. He has also served as Regional Dean in the Dioceses of Central Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Between 2003 and 2008 he was Archdeacon of Fort Sackville and St Margaret’s Bay. He was elected Suffragan Bishop of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island on May 23, 2008 and consecrated on June 29, 2008. In his 31 years in the ministry, Bishop Cutler has witnessed many changes in the dynamics of rural communities and small towns, and in the economy of Atlantic Canada. He particularly enjoys children and youth ministry and in facilitating lay and clergy team ministry. Bishop Cutler will be receiving a Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa).

Elizabeth Fountain was born in Halifax and is an alumna of Mount Saint Vincent University. Together with her husband Fred Fountain, she is an active philanthropist in the areas of culture, education, and medicine. Elizabeth Fountain has had the courage to transform a personal tragedy into positive advocacy in the area of mental health. She was one of the forces behind the recent change to the Nova Scotia Department of Health’s Personal Health Information Act, which allows information sharing between mental health care providers and the supporters of persons living with mental illness if those individuals or others are at risk.   In addition, Elizabeth and Fred Fountain have generously made a gift to the University of King’s College for the creation of the annual Alex Fountain Memorial Lecture, the first of which was held in October 2011. They have also given to Mount Saint Vincent University’s capital campaign for the creation of a new Teaching, Learning and Research Centre. Additionally, they have supported many initiatives in Halifax and beyond, including the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Dalhousie University, Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation, Laing House, the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia, Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Red Cross, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia, Autism Nova Scotia, the Fountain Performing Arts Centre at King’s-Edgehill School, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Symphony Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Nature Trust, the Fountain Arena at St Margaret’s Centre, and the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21. Elizabeth Fountain will be receiving a Doctor of Canon Law (honoris causa).

Lewis Lapham has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a journalist, writer, broadcaster, and media personality. He was born and grew up in San Francisco and began his career in newspapers, first at the San Francisco Examiner and then at the New York Herald Tribune. He is perhaps best known as the editor of Harper’s Magazine and the current editor of Lapham’s Quarterly, a literary magazine founded in 2007. While at Harper’s he wrote the monthly essay, ‘Notebook’, which won him the National Magazine Award in 1995. He was also responsible for the introduction of many—now emulated—features, such as the Harper’s Index. In addition to setting an example as a writer and editor, Lewis Lapham shares with King’s a passion for the humanities. Each issue of Lapham’s Quarterly explores a theme using primary source material that spans disciplines and historical eras. This interdisciplinary approach infuses every program at the University of King’s College.  Fittingly, Lapham’s Quarterly has hired three of its interns from King’s. Lewis Lapham will be receiving a Doctor of Civil Law (honoris causa).

 


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