ubc virtual graduation fall 2020 november 25 Dear Graduate, Today’s virtual ceremony celebrates your very real accomplishment. Your graduation began long before this day. It began when you made the choice to study that extra hour, dedicate yourself more deeply and strive to reach for the degree you had chosen to fully commit your life to pursuing. Many of the people that helped you arrive here today— family, friends, classmates—are watching this ceremony with you. While they may not be physically next to you, they stand with you in spirit, take pride in your achievement and share your joy. We are honoured to have given you a place to discover, inspire others and be challenged beyond what you thought was possible. Yours, UBC TABLE OF CONTENTS The Graduation Journey 2 Lists of Fall 2020 Graduating Students Graduation Traditions 4 The Faculty of Graduate and Chancellor’s Welcome 6 Postdoctoral Studies 17 President’s Welcome 8 The Faculty of Applied Science 27 Musqueam Welcome 10 The Faculty of Arts 28 The Board of Governors & Senate 12 The Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration 30 Scholarships, Medals & Prizes 14 The Faculty of Dentistry 31 The Program of Ceremony 16 The Faculty of Education 32 The Faculty of Forestry 36 The Faculty of Land and Food Systems 36 The Peter A. Allard School of Law 37 The Faculty of Medicine 37 The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences 37 The Faculty of Science 38 Acknowledgements 40 O Canada 40 Alumni Welcome 41 1 FALL GRADUATION 2020 THE GRADUATION JOURNEY The UBC graduation journey has been forged by the spirit of the university’s motto, Tuum Est, (meaning ‘it is yours’) since 1915. Today, you, the graduating class of 2020, now shape UBC’s history by making it your own. 1916 1920s 1940s One of the first graduating classes was The twenties saw the student-led Great The forties were an era of tremendous the Arts Class of 1916 pictured here at a Trek to claim UBC’s Point Grey campus change at the university as both students party at the home of Mary Wilons. In and establish the university as a place of and faculty embraced the war effort. UBC’s first year, there were only three mind for students the world over. The In 1943, new President Norman faculties: Arts, Applied Science and AMS incorporated as a non-profit society MacKenzie began in earnest to expand Agriculture with 379 registered students and the university began awarding its the university and new departments and 34 faculty members. first graduate degrees to students. In the were formed along with new buildings Ubyssey, published in September 23, 1925, to house them including Brock Hall, students described the new campus with the first student union building. By the a sense of wonder: “We are dazed with the 1950s, UBC had established itself appearance of architectural cleanliness as a comprehensive university and top and bewildered by our lineal freedom.” choice for students in BC and beyond. 2 FALL GRADUATION 2020 1960s 1980s 2020 Student numbers continued to escalate With over 34,000 students registered at This year, we celebrate the 75th alongside the scholarly activities the beginning of the eighties, UBC began anniversary of the law faculty at UBC, that began to define UBC as a leader in attracting scholars from all over the world. which has been producing innovative research. The campus was alive with Engineering students were in the news research through excellence in teaching sixties counterculture and a sixth frequently for their pranks, which included and learning since 1945. president of UBC was elected by the the famous Ladner Clock Tower stunt in The year 2020 is notable for extraordinary name of Dr. Walter Gage. New student which students pulled off hoisting a white challenges. The global COVID-19 outbreak residences were created to respond Volkswagen Bug onto the top of the tower. dramatically altered the socioeconomic to the expanding student body as well as Dr. Martha Piper was elected President in landscape. From students assisting front- a new student union building. Students 1997 and ushered in an era of international line workers to researchers developing gain influence at the university and engagement that saw UBC step onto potential treatments and vaccines, this are elected to the University Board of the world stage as an educator and global year’s graduates are making a difference Governors for the first time. centre for research excellence. by helping to combat the global pandemic. Their determination and resilience is helping them to achieve their goals and shape a better future for all of us. 3 FALL GRADUATION 2020 GRADUATION TRADITIONS 4 FALL GRADUATION 2020 The University mace is a symbol of the authority of the Chancellor. It is displayed on ceremonial occasions, most notably during graduation ceremonies but also during the installation of a president or chancellor. THE UNIVERSITY MACE CEREMONIAL REGALIA GRAD CLASS LEGACY In the fall of 1957, the University The hoods, gowns and hats worn by those UBC students have a rich legacy of giving com missioned Haida carver Bill Reid to participating in the academic ceremonies gifts and donations to the UBC Vancouver undertake the project. Owing to Reid’s are lined with colours to indicate the campus. Since 1919, there has been heavy workload, he suggested that George degree they have been conferred, a a tradition of gifting and/or dedicating a Norris be asked to help design and carve tradition dating back to the Middle Ages tree in honour of the graduating class. the mace. The planning of the mace when the first universities were founded. The 2020 grad class tree is a London took some time and a final design was In 2019, UBC approached the plane tree (Platanus acerifolia), located on not approved until 1959. xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and Syilx the north side of University Boulevard Norris carved the mace from a block of Okanagan Nation to collaborate between East Mall and Main Mall. Due to yew and it included a stylized thunderbird on a project that would add Indigenous the current pandemic, the plaque will on the thick upper portion. The mace symbols of host Nations of each be installed at a later date. also featured the use of copper that was respective campus to the academic The tradition of the grad class gift prominent in Northwest Coast native art. regalia of senior administration. to the University began in 1926 with the This copper trimming was designed and Chrystal Sparrow, a third-generation presentation of a trophy case designed prepared by Bill Reid. Norris completed xʷməθkʷəy̓əm artist and carver from the to house athletic and literary awards. the mace in 1959 and it was first used at xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Indian Band, Since that time, each successive the fall graduation ceremony where the designed the new regalia, which graduating class has chosen a gift or Director of Ceremonies, Malcolm Chancellor Steven Point (xwĕ lī qwĕl tĕl) series of gifts to enhance the campus. McGregor, carried it for the first time. and President and Vice-Chancellor Santa The 2020 grad class gifts are: J. Ono are honoured to wear as part of the university’s fall 2020 academic • $20,000 to commission a mural in the ceremonies. UBC Life Building to celebrate student experiences at UBC, including academics, celebrations, student issues and more; • $20,000 donation to the AMS Food Bank to support their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing them to serve more students in need; • $20,000 donation to UBC to support students with financial need during the COVID-19 pandemic. 5 FALL GRADUATION 2020 CHANCELLOR’S WELCOME On behalf of 350,000 UBC alumni from around the world, it is my pleasure to bring greetings and congratulations to members of the graduating class. Indeed, you have faced new challenges you entered UBC, take heart in knowing and you have persevered through unusual that better times can prevail in the future and sometimes trying circumstances as they have in the past. To repeat, it is during your time as students. In complet- a matter of choice rather than fate. ing degree requirements at a university I also encourage you to regard your UBC like UBC, you have provided compelling graduation not as the end of a journey but evidence of your skills, resourcefulness as the beginning of a new one, as alumni and strength of character. Let this be of one of the world’s most renowned a source of confidence as you navigate the centres of learning and research. We hope way forward within what may seem to that you will return often and remain be a world of alarming uncertainty. connected to your university and to your It is important to remind ourselves that fellow alumni, and that you will work throughout history, humankind has faced together with them to create a more safe, uncertainty. There have been previous just and sustainable world. pandemics, there has been injustice and Once again, warmest congratulations, political polarization within communities and best wishes to all. and nations. Sadly, none of this is new, but we must remind ourselves that it is choice — the honourable steven point and not fate that determines where our , journeys will lead—both as individuals ll.d.’13 and as collective members of a group. Chancellor My greatest hope is that you will use your intuitive skill and the lessons you have learned to make good decisions about what you will do in the face of uncertainty, what you will ask of your- selves and what you will ask of your leaders. While circumstances today are in many ways quite different than when 6 FALL GRADUATION 2020 7 FALL GRADUATION 2020 PRESIDENT’S WELCOME Congratulations! Graduation is a momentous day in your life.