Tom Jenkins, John Tennant, Kim Phuc Phan Thi and Mary Hynes to receive honorary degrees at Laurier spring convocation

April 16, 2025

Innovator and business leader Tom Jenkins; foreign service and strategic business leader John Tennant; peace advocate “The Girl in the Picture” Kim Phuc Phan Thi; and journalist Mary Hynes will receive honorary degrees as part of Wilfrid Laurier University’s 2025 spring convocation ceremonies.  

Laurier will also present the Order of Wilfrid Laurier University to Northwest Territories and federal public service leader Joe Dragon and scholar of religion Laurier Professor Emeritus Michel Desjardins.

Brantford campus ceremonies will be held at the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts on June 3. Waterloo campus ceremonies take place at Lazaridis Hall from June 9 to 13. 

Tom Jenkins, Honorary Doctor of Laws
June 3, 10 a.m., Brantford 

Active for more than 40 years in economic development, Tom Jenkins is a vocal supporter of educational innovation.  Jenkins is chair of the board of OpenText, a role he has served in since 1998 following terms as president, chief executive officer and chief strategy officer. Jenkins is also chair of the World Wide Web Foundation, an international non-profit organization that advocates for a free and open internet, and commissioner of the Tri-Lateral Commission, a non-governmental organization that works to foster closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. Jenkins has served as a board member of Manulife Financial Corporation, Thomson Reuters Inc. and TransAlta Corporation, as well as chair of the National Research Council of Canada. Jenkins was the 10th chancellor of the University of Waterloo, is a member of the Waterloo Region Entrepreneur Hall of Fame and a companion of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. His numerous awards include the Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year award, the Canadian Forces Decoration and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and an Officer of the Order of Canada.

John Tennant, Honorary Doctor of Laws
June 11, 9:30 a.m., Waterloo 

A strategic business consultant and foreign service leader, John Tennant has impacted not only the development of Waterloo Region, but also Canada’s relationships around the world. Prior to serving as a strategic economic development consultant for the past 15 years, Tennant was CEO of Canada’s Technology Triangle Inc., where he established collaborative economic development and investment attraction initiatives and developed close links between research, talent and institutions of higher learning. Before he settled in Waterloo Region, Tennant’s 39-year foreign service career featured roles with Global Affairs Canada, including international postings in Japan, West Africa, Central America, the Eastern Caribbean, Australia and the United States. His work centered on international relations, investment, export trade development, trade negotiations, economic policy, science and technology, and interaction with international executives with Canadian business interests. Tennant has been a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council at Wilfrid Laurier University’s Lazaridis School of Business and Economics for 15 years and chair since 2017. 

Kim Phuc Phan Thi , Honorary Doctor of Laws
June 12, 1 p.m., Waterloo 

Kim Phuc Phan Thi is known around the world as “The Girl in the Picture.” In 1972, she was immortalized in a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph titled The Terror of War that depicted her as a nine-year-old running naked in agony following a napalm strike in Trang Bang, Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Once a living symbol of the atrocities of war, for nearly 30 years Phuc has been a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for the Culture of Peace and is the founder and president of The KIM Foundation International, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping child victims of war, violence and poverty. A world-renowned speaker and advocate for peace, Phuc has been honoured with awards including honorary doctorates, the 2004 Order of Ontario and the 2019 Dresden Peace Prize. Her personal memoir Fire Road has been translated into 10 languages. In 2023, Laurier was honored to welcome Phuc as the keynote speaker at the Students as Partners conference, organized by Laurier’s International Students Overcoming War club in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Mary Hynes, Honorary Doctor of Letters
June 13, 1 p.m., Waterloo

Mary Hynes spent 20 years as the host of Tapestry, CBC Radio’s much-loved program about spirituality and what it means to be human. Hynes has also covered an eclectic range of stories in news and sports for newspapers, television, wire services and radio. Hynes has reported from 23 countries and covered three Olympic Games. She is the former host of CBC Radio’s The Inside Track and TVO’s Imprint, as well as a former co-host of Studio 2 on TVO. Hynes also spent several years as a sports reporter at the Globe and Mail.

Joe Dragon, Order of Wilfrid Laurier University
June 9, 9:30 a.m., Waterloo

Joe Dragon, a Smith’s Landing First Nation member, has a profound connection and commitment to the Canadian North. Dragon’s distinguished 30-year public service career includes senior leadership roles within both the territorial and federal governments. His federal experience spanned departments including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, the Treasury Board Secretariat, and National Defence. For the Government of Northwest Territories (GNWT), Dragon started his public service career as a wildlife biologist and then returned to the North where he served as the deputy minister of environment and natural resources, deputy minister of infrastructure, and the principal secretary to the premier of the Northwest Territories. He has also served as chair of the board for the Northwest Territories Power Corporation and Canadian Mountain Network, now called Braiding Knowledges Canada. Currently, Dragon serves as the GNWT’s senior envoy to the Government of Canada. Throughout his career, Dragon has provided expert advisory services to Indigenous governments and organizations, academic institutions and businesses in Canada’s North. Dragon has been instrumental in supporting Laurier’s partnership and research collaboration with the Government of the Northwest Territories and building relationships with the territory’s Indigenous governments and communities.

Michel Desjardins, Order of Wilfrid Laurier University
June 12, 4 p.m., Waterloo

Professor Emeritus Michel Desjardins was an impactful mentor, instructor and academic leader at Laurier during his 24-year career at the university. A leading scholar of religion and culture, his expertise on the interrelationship between religion and food is globally recognized. During his time at Laurier, Desjardins led the departments of Religion and Culture and Global Studies for three years and served as associate and acting dean for the Faculty of Arts. He has been recognized with awards including a Laurier teaching award and a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, the nation’s highest teaching honour at the postsecondary level. Desjardins is remembered at Laurier for his mentorship and his impact on students and colleagues alike. At his current home on Vancouver Island, on SC’I ȺNEW First Nations land, he continues to teach and learn from others, including the natural world around him.

Convocation ceremonies will also honour: 

University Research Professor:  

• Alison Blay-Palmer, June 9, 9:30 a.m., Waterloo

Faculty Award for Service Excellence: 

• Louise Dawe, June 10, 4 p.m., Waterloo
• Azim Essaji, June 11, 4 p.m., Waterloo

Distinguished Governor Award: 

• Paul Elliott, June 11, 1 p.m., Waterloo
• Patricia Polischuk, June 12, 9:30 a.m., Waterloo

Tickets are required for all Laurier convocation ceremonies. Members of the media are asked to RSVP to attend. For more information about convocation visit wlu.ca/convocation.