Honorary Degrees
Awarding Honorary Degrees
The University of Regina Act gives Senate and Executive of Council joint authority to approve honrary degree candidates. The Chancellor confers honorary degrees as recommended by the President who makes selections from the approved candidate list.
The Senate by-laws provide for a Joint Committee of Senate and Council on Ceremonies, which recommends appropriate guidelines and criteria for the awarding of honorary degrees, invites, receives and reviews suggestions for candidates to whom honorary degrees might be awarded, and recommends for approval to Senate and Council candidates for honorary degrees.
Principles/Statement of Purpose
An honorary degree is the highest honour the University can bestow. Acceptance of an honorary degree by a candidate brings honour to both the recipient and the University.
Honorary degrees will be conferred at every convocation but not necessarily every ceremony.
Honorary Degree Categories
The University of Regina awards four honorary degrees:
- Doctor of Fine Arts honoris causa (DFA) – awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in visual or performing arts.
- Doctor of Laws honoris causa (LLD) - awarded in recognition of exceptional service to the University or the community at large. This generic honorary degree is the most frequently awarded.
- Doctor of Letters honoris causa (DLitt) – awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the humanities or literature.
- Doctor of Science honoris causa (DSc) – awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the pure and applied sciences.
Categories of Nomination
The Ceremonies Committee will take the following considerations into account when selecting candidates:
- A Saskatchewan or prairie figure, well known and respected regionally for distinguished work which has earned them a reputation in public service.
- A distinguished person from a professional field or the creative arts field who is recognized as having achieved a reputation for excellence.
- A scientist, humanitarian, public servant or public figure who is recognized nationally or internationally for distinguished work and reputation.
- A visionary leader whose presence at Convocation would be inspiring to the graduating class.
On occasion, special efforts may be made to mark the time or circumstance by placing special emphasis on some particular field of endeavour.
Exclusion List
The following persons are not eligible for consideration for an honorary degree:
- current members of the Board of Governors or Senate (excluding Chancellors Emeriti);
- current or recent members of the faculty or staff of the University;
- current students; and
- holders of elected office at any level (such as municipal, provincial, or federal)
Nomination Forms
Nomination Process
Any member of the University community or the public may put forward a nomination. The nomination must be signed by the nominator and may include up to three letters of support. Nominators should declare on the nomination form the basis for their selection. Nominators would not normally be members of the nominee’s immediate family.
Nominations will be accepted at anytime throughout the year. In order for a nominations to be considered at the Ceremonies Committee annual meeting (usually in May), applications must be submitted prior to March 31st.
Guidelines for Preparation of Nominations
Nominations should follow the format stipulated on the Nomination Form and include the following:
- The name of the nominee and complete contact information.
- Biographical information on the candidate, i.e. degrees, curriculum vitae, etc.
- A summary statement on why the candidate is being nominated.
- Information on the nominator
Please download the Nomination Form (Word Document). Once you have completed the form, submit it to the Joint Committee of Senate and Council on Ceremonies.
Contact Us
Please address and submit nominations to:
Joint Committee of Senate and Council on Ceremonies
Administration-Humanities Building, Room 509
University of Regina
Regina, SK S4S 0A2
Email: convocation@uregina.ca
Telephone: 306-585-4956
Honorary Degree Protocol
The Ceremonies Committee will consider only complete nominations. The Committee will either recommend the nominee to Senate and Executive of Council for inclusion on the approved candidate list, or reject the nomination. If a nomination is rejected the file is destroyed.
Information on the action of the Ceremonies Committee regarding nominations will remain confidential.
The Senate and Executive of Council will, at their next meeting, receive the names of those recommended for approval and will vote on each name separately at an in-camera session. In unusual cases, such as a Special Convocation, such voting may take place by mail or confidential e-mail ballot. Those approved for the awarding of a degree will be added to the list of “approved” candidates, which is maintained by the University Secretary.
Prior to each Convocation ceremony, the President will review the approved list of honorary degree candidates and will chose the recipients to be honoured at the Convocation. Wherever practical, honorary degrees will be awarded within five years of their approval by Senate and Executive of Council.
If a nominator informs the nominee, or any one else, about the nomination, it must be on the basis that such communication is to be treated as strictly confidential communication and on the basis that such nomination is but a first step in a process which may or may not result in an honorary degree being awarded. The University will not release the outcome of any individual nomination, except by making a public announcement of the honorary degree recipients for a particular Convocation. The names approved by Senate and Executive of Council will not be made public until this time. Members of Senate and Executive of Council are to treat as confidential any information regarding approved candidates.
The University Secretary will determine the timing of the public announcement.
Honorary degree recipients may be invited to give a Convocation address but can decline the invitation to do so.
Honorary degrees are not awarded in absentia. An exception may be made only when an honorary degree recipient has accepted and arrangements have been made for its awarding but extenuating and unforeseen circumstances (such as sudden ill health or inability to travel) prevent the individual’s attendance.
Honorary degrees are not awarded posthumously. An exception may be made only when the honorary degree recipient has accepted and arrangements have been made for its awarding prior to the individual’s death.
The citation for the honorary degree is prepared by the University Secretary, in consultation with the President and in partnership with the presenter. The Chancellor confers the honorary degree, the University Secretary hoods the honorary degree recipient, and the President presents the framed honorary degree parchment.
Honorary degree recipients wear a scarlet wool gown trimmed with gold silk around the collar and down the front. The honorary degree hood, which is presented to the honorary degree recipient at the ceremony, has a shell of scarlet wool lined with gold silk with an inverted green silk chevron and colors distinctive to the degree.
- DFA – red with gold lining and a green chevron in the lining, and a narrow white and pink chevron above the green chevron;
- LLD– red with gold lining and a green chevron in the lining;
- DLitt– red with gold lining and a green chevron in the lining, and a narrow white chevron above the green chevron; and,
- DSc– red with gold lining and a green chevron in the lining, and a narrow mint green and emerald green chevron above the green chevron.
The Senate, acting on the recommendation of Council or on its own initiative but after receiving a report from Council, may revoke degrees (including an honorary degree), diplomas, certificates or distinctions conferred by the University and all privileges connected therewith from any holder of the same:
- who shall have been convicted of any criminal offence which shall be held (by the Council) to be of an immoral, or scandalous or disgraceful nature;
- whose membership in a Professional Society has been revoked for misconduct; or
- whose conduct, in the opinion of the Senate, shall constitute a breach of any agreement made with the University as a condition of the conferment of such degree or degrees, diplomas, certificates or distinctions (including institutional honours).
The Senate may restore the degree, diploma, certificate or distinction or privileges revoked by Senate without further examination, on cause being shown, and after report by Council.
Honorary Degree Recipients
2024 Fall Honorary Degree Recipients
Chris Getzlaf
U of R alumnus and Saskatchewan Roughrider legend Chris Getzlaf played with the Regina Thunder and then the University of Regina Rams. Drafted by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2007, he was soon traded to the Riders, where he played in his hometown for nine and a half years of his outstanding 11-year CFL career.
His legacy with the Riders includes two Grey Cups (2007 and 2013). In the 2013 Grey Cup hosted in Regina, he was named the Most Outstanding Canadian. He remains fifth all-time in receiving yards
for the Roughriders and was named to the team’s SaskTel Plaza of Honour in 2021.
Getzlaf has strong community ties and serves on the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation. He has traveled across Saskatchewan for speaking engagements, was
involved in the Red Cross’s Imagine No Bullying Campaign, ran the Getzlaf and Friends Charity Golf Tournament raising more than $200,000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation, and is involved in the Regina Chapter of 100 Men Who Care. He received the Red Cross Young Humanitarian Award and Mosaic Outstanding Community Service Award for his commitment to giving back. Getzlaf says, “When the award was explained as recognition of exceptional professional or personal accomplishments, and service to community, it was extremely flattering. Knowing that many peers and highly educated individuals view me in a light to be a recipient of such an honour is an amazing feeling.”
Chris Getzlaf received an honorary Doctor of Laws honoris causa (LLD) on October 17, 2024.
Ryan Getzlaf
Ryan Getzlaf’s success as a junior hockey player translated into an exceptional career with the Anaheim Ducks.
During his four-year junior hockey career with the Calgary Hitmen, Getzlaf was a member of the gold medal-winning 2003 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 World championship team. In 2005, he was a member of the Canadian World Junior team that won the gold medal. Making his NHL debut in 2005, Getzlaf played his entire NHL career, 17 seasons, with the Anaheim Ducks. He served as captain of the team for 12 seasons, and was a member of the 2007 Stanley Cup winning team.
Active in a variety of charitable endeavours, Getzlaf created the Anaheim Ducks Learn to Play program for children, and the Getzlaf’s Gamers program that helps underprivileged children attend Calgary Hitmen games. He and his wife Paige host the Annual Getzlaf Golf Shootout which has raised $5.7 million for CureDuchenne, a foundation supporting research to cure Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
Getzlaf says, “Receiving this honorary degree from the University of Regina, in the city where I was born and grew up in, is quite humbling. It means that my career as a professional athlete, and my efforts to give back to the community at large, are being acknowledged by respected and highly accomplished academics and community members who have decided to grant this huge honour to me.”
Ryan Getzlaf received an honorary Doctor of Laws honoris causa (LLD) on October 17, 2024.
2024 Spring Honorary Degree Recipients
Joseph Andrew Naytowhow
Joseph Naytowhow is a gifted singer/songwriter, accomplished stage and screen actor, orator and storyteller.
Passionate about the arts, Naytowhow has shared his artistic vision through collaborations, film, television, theatre, mentoring, and teaching. Using his many talents, he explores themes of traditional nehiyaw (Cree) culture and contemporary society with a focus on bringing people together. Naytowhow is a sought-after presenter and guest speaker who explores a variety of subjects including traditional Indigenous culture and ways of being/knowing. He is renowned for his unique style of Cree/English storytelling combined with contemporary music and traditional First Nations drum, flute and rattle songs.
He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Canadian Aboriginal Music Award’s Keeper of the Tradition Award and a Gemini Award for his role in the Wapos Bay TV series.
A member of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation Band, Naytowhow has earned a Bachelor of Education degree, studied with a Buddhist master for 15 years, worked as an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and mentor and is committed to lifelong learning and sharing cultural knowledge.
He also has a strong connection to the University having served with the U of R Faculty of Education as an emerging Elder-in-Residence in 2015/16 and 2018/19.
Naytowhow says, “This degree validates the knowledge and skills I’d been taught by traditional Indigenous teachers/masters. It demonstrates that our ways of knowing as Indigenous people are respected and accepted as part of the world I grew up in, here in Saskatchewan and Canada.”
Joseph Naytowhow received an honorary Doctor of Laws honoris causa (LLD) on June 12, 2024.
Bhanu Prasad
Dr. Bhanu Prasad is a Regina physician renowned for his expertise in nephrology - a field of medicine dealing with kidneys and hypertension.
Dr. Prasad is an award-winning doctor, teacher, and a researcher. He is internationally recognized for his research in a rare disease, loin pain hematuria syndrome (LPHS), and his unwavering commitment to finding answers to this devastating condition.
This debilitating disease affects young women, who are often treated with high doses of opiates, resulting in depression and long-term disability. Dr. Prasad and his team have successfully developed other treatment options to provide lasting pain relief to patients with LPHS and are conducting genetic studies they hope will lead to earlier diagnosis and additional treatment options.
Dr. Prasad has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Saskatchewan Medical Association Physician of the Year Award, Top Collaborative Innovation Development Grant (Clinical Research) at the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation Annual Santé Awards, and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for Excellence in Healthcare from the province.
Dr. Prasad says, “This recognition from a prestigious institution affirms the dedication and passion I have put into my clinical work, research, and teaching endeavors. It serves as validation for the countless hours of effort and commitment I have invested in my professional pursuits.”
Dr. Bhanu Prasad received an honorary Doctor of Science honoris causa (DSc) on June 13, 2024.
Marlene Ann Smadu
Dr. Marlene Smadu has helped define the role of nursing in Saskatchewan.
Starting her career as a registered nurse at Regina’s Pasqua Hospital she has since held nursing, administrative and educator positions in the health sector and at three post-secondary institutions in Saskatchewan, including the University of Regina. She has served in many roles including: President of the Canadian Nurses Association; Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association (SRNA); Assistant Deputy Minister of Health and Provincial Nursing Advisor for Saskatchewan; and founding board member and Chair of the Saskatchewan Health Quality Council.
Some of her many accolades include the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, the Saskatchewan Health Care Excellence Award, and the SRNA Millennium Jean E. Browne Nursing Leadership Award.
Smadu is also a past Chair of the University of Regina’s Board of Governors, and a co-founder of RaiseHER Community, a social movement empowering woman to unleash their leadership potential. She has also volunteered with a variety of organizations including the Canadian Cancer Society, and the Saskatchewan Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Smadu says, “I am deeply honoured to receive an honorary degree from the University of Regina, an institution that I have been associated with for over 50 years. The U of R has played a significant role in my life and the lives of my family members, contributing to our well-being and quality of life.”
Dr. Marlene Smadu received an honorary Doctor of Laws honoris causa (LLD) on June 14, 2024.