Nobel Prize in Physics winner Arthur McDonald is being presented with an honourary doctorate by Laurentian University this afternoon (Wednesday) during one of the university's spring convocation ceremonies.
Business executive and Laurentian alumna Nicole Boivin also received an honourary doctorate from the university Tuesday.
“Each year, we pay tribute to exceptional Canadians who have led the way in their respective fields,” said Laurentian University chancellor Steve Paikin, in a press release.
“Our honorary doctorate recipients are highly talented and engaged individuals who serve as an inspiration for students, professors, researchers and staff.”
“The contributions and achievements of these outstanding individuals have touched the lives of many,” said Laurentian's interim president, Pierre Zundel.
“Their leadership serves as a role model for us all, and we are thrilled to welcome them as part of the Laurentian Alumni family.”
Nicole Boivin
Bilingual business executive and Laurentian alumna, Nicole Boivin, has over 30 years of experience working in financial services and telecommunications for public and not-for-profit organizations.
Strategic consultant to boards and executives dealing with disruption and changes in leadership and strategy, Boivin is a contingent faculty member of Schulich’s School of Business Executives with York University and an advisor to the venture capital firm DG Capital.
She currently serves on the private board of RES PUBLICA Capital and the public board Supremex. She is a former board member of the Ontario Power Corporation, Brampton Distribution Holdco, Pathways to Education and Harbourfront Centre.
Boivin held several leadership roles during her 14-year career at Manulife, a leading Canadian-based financial services company. As the company’s first global Chief Branding and Communications Officer, she led Manulife’s global brand strategy and co-branding efforts following the company’s merger with John Hancock. As a senior vice-president,
Boivin also led key communications and human resources initiatives for Manulife’s Canadian Division, including the creation of the global talent management strategy. Before joining Manulife, she was the Director at BCE Media, a division of Bell Canada, the Assistant to the President of Laurentian University, and the Executive Director of the Sudbury United Way.
Boivin recently launched “Leaders Unplugged,” a podcast series featuring female leaders at different stages in their professional and personal lives.
Boivin is an MBA graduate from Laurentian University; she holds the ICD designation from the Rotman School of Management, she was named one of the 50 personalities as part of Diversity 50 initiative of the Canadian Board of Diversity Council (CBDC), and was the recipient of the Manulife Stars of Excellence Award.
Arthur B. McDonald
Canadian physicist and co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics, Arthur B. McDonald has gained global recognition for his extensive work with neutrinos — subatomic particles considered the basic building blocks of the universe.
McDonald was instrumental in efforts to build the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), an experiment designed to study the solar neutrino problem in which the number of electron-neutrinos observed coming from the sun was much lower than expected. He was the director of the observatory located 2,070 meters underground in the Creighton mine near Sudbury, Ontario.
In 2001-2002, McDonald and his SNO collaborators presented exciting results indicating that the number of neutrinos – electron, muon, and tau – was the same as the number of electron-neutrinos predicted by solar models, noting that some of the electron neutrinos had changed to other types.
These findings attracted worldwide interest as they helped recast the fundamental scientific understandings of how matter works.
McDonald has had a close and fruitful working relationship with Laurentian University physicists for over thirty years, as Laurentian University was a founding member of the SNO Collaboration.
He is a professor emeritus at Queen’s University and a Companion of the Order of Canada. McDonald has received many other scientific honours and accolades for his work, including the Polanyi and Breakthrough Prizes shared with the SNO Collaboration.
