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031-1985 Richard K. Taylor April 17, 1985

2 honorary degrees to be conferred at WLU at spring convocation May 26

Two honorary doctor of laws degrees will be conferred by Wilfrid Laurier University at spring convocation, May 26 at 2:15 p.m. in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, East Ave.

One will be awarded posthumously to J.C. Phillips, chairman of the board of Gulf Canada Ltd., until his death April 5, and the other to Elmer Iseler, a former WLU student and conductor of the famed Mendelssohn Choir for 20 years.

More than 900 students will receive graduate and under- graduate degrees at convocation. They will be awarded by John Aird, lieutenant-governor of and chancellor of the university.

The convocation address will be delivered by the lieutenant- governor, who has reached the end of his term at Laurier and will be presiding at his final convocation ceremony.

A baccalaureate service will be held in the chapel of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, the federated theological college, at 10 a.m. that day, and a reception on campus for all graduates, their families and friends will follow convocation.

Phillips served the university as national chairman of the WLU Development Fund, Excellence in the Eighties, which is within $200,000 of its goal of $6.2 million.

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"His support of our campaign was magnificent," John A. Weir, president of Laurier, said. "He gave unstintingly of himself. His subtle wit and consistent interest inspired all who worked with him."

A graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School, Phillips joined Gulf in 1956 and was named chairman in 1979. He was a director of the Canadian Paraplegic Association and involved in fund-raising for Ashbury College in Ottawa, in addition to his role at Laurier. He also was a director of the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Phillips died shortly after the university moved to grant him the degree, after a two-year fight against cancer.

Iseler was first encouraged to look upon music as a possible career by the late U.S. Leupold, professor of New Testament at y Waterloo Lutheran Seminar , and director of the choir.

Iseler attended what was then Waterloo College, the fore- runner of Laurier, from 1946 to 1948 and went on to take a bachelor of music degree at the .

In 1955 he formed the Festival Singers of Canada and led them on tours of Canada that firmly established them as one of the countrys finest choirs.

It was in 1964 that Iseler became Canadas first full-time choral director when he was chosen to become conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. He has led the choir ever since, to triumphs both in Canada and abroad. The Festival Singers became the professional nucleus of the larger choir until they were disbanded in 1979 to be succeeded by the .

Iseler will conduct the Singers in a brief program at convocation, following the presentation of his degree.

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