On Wednesday, October 7, King’s will hold a ceremony to install Dr. Timothy Vine as the 26th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of King’s College. As is customary, the university will confer honorary degrees on outstanding community members at the installation. Inglis Professor Stephen Kimber, O.N.S., and Russell Grosse, Chief Executive Officer of the Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia (BCCNS), will each receive a Doctor of Civil Laws (honoris causa).
“It’s a privilege to honour Stephen and Russell. This is a meaningful first step after I’m installed as President and Vice-Chancellor, because their contributions are essential to what has already been achieved at King’s and what we continue to strive for together,” says Dr. Vine. “The installation ceremony is my opportunity to commit publicly to serving this exemplary university and the community that sustains it.”
Stephen Kimber
A prolific writer and journalist of national renown, Kimber has left an indelible mark at King’s as a beloved professor of journalism and creative nonfiction writing and co-founder of King’s successful Master of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction. Kimber taught in the School of Journalism, Writing & Publishing from 1983–2021 and was the Director of Journalism three times. He was instrumental in developing the MFA’s signature low-residency model and curriculum and its focus on mentorship and writing in community. Kimber has educated countless journalists and storytellers and, even after his retirement from the university in 2025, has remained closely associated with King’s.
Kimber’s journalism has included print, radio, television and writing for nearly every major Canadian publication, as well as producing shows for CBC and CTV. His 15 books include Sailors, Slackers and Blind Pigs: Halifax at War, What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five, and his forthcoming novel, Traitor’s Game: A Mick Blackwell Mystery. Kimber has received 23 Atlantic Journalism Awards and multiple regional and national book prizes, including the 2026 Legacy Award from the Atlantic Book Awards. In 2023, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Nova Scotia, recognizing not just his writing, but his lifelong contributions to education, journalism and community life.
Russell Grosse
In his leadership role at the BCCNS, Grosse has been an essential advisor to King’s in its ongoing work to fight anti-Black racism, acknowledge the history and significant contributions of African Nova Scotians, and make the university a more welcoming place for Black students, faculty and staff. Together with President Emeritus William Lahey, Grosse was instrumental in building King’s ongoing partnership with the BCCNS, which grew from the work King’s and Dalhousie University engaged in with the BCCNS to organize and host the first Universities Studying Slavery (USS) Conference in 2023. King’s partnership with the BCCNS has helped drive meaningful change, including the creation of an initiative that covers tuition and costs for up to three African Nova Scotian journalism students each year.
Grosse has devoted over 30 years to protecting, preserving, promoting and advancing Black history, culture and community development in Nova Scotia and across Canada. He is executive producer of community cultural events and video productions. He serves on the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada and the Canadian Media Fund, and is Co-Chair of the Minister of National Defence External Advisory Committee on Anti-Black Racism. He was also co-chair of the Government of Canada’s 2022 Historic National Apology to the descendants of No. 2 Construction Battalion, an all-Black unit that served in the First World War. In 2022, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, and in 2025, the King Charles III Coronation Medal.
