U of G Awarding Eight Honorary Degrees at Summer Convocation 

Ms. Bailey-Wisdom is a national leader, community builder and lifelong advocate for justice and inclusion. She has dedicated her career to advancing equity and amplifying the voices of Black communities across Canada. A visionary collaborator and strategist, she played a central role in the Black Experience Project, a landmark, multi-year study that revealed the complex realities of Black life in the Greater Toronto Area. Its findings continue to influence policy development and equity strategies at all levels of government and across institutions nationwide. 

As a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, she mentors graduate students preparing to lead in complex global contexts. She also co-directs the ArtsEverywhere Festival in Guelph, which convenes international, national, and local artists to explore urgent issues of our time—including the climate crisis, social justice, and Indigeneity—through the lens of art and dialogue. 

Dr. Michael DeGagné is president and CEO of Indspire, Canada’s largest Indigenous-led charity supporting Indigenous education. Under his leadership, Indspire has provided more than $30 million in scholarships to over 8,300 Indigenous students in a single academic year. 

He was one of the first Indigenous presidents of a Canadian public university, serving as president and vice-chancellor of Nipissing University. He went on to become the first president of Yukon University, where he helped guide its historic transition into a fully recognized university. 

His voice has shaped not only Canadian institutions, but a global understanding of Indigenous issues. 

Dr. Ormond MacDougald has led groundbreaking research on fat cell development and has opened new understandings of how these cells develop and function. Among these discoveries are new pathways for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders.  

A Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Fulbright Scholar, MacDougald is also a dedicated mentor and educator. His leadership at the University of Michigan includes championing graduate education and expanding opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds.  

As a scientist, mentor, and valued community member, MacDougald exemplifies excellence, innovation and service. 

For over 50 years, Trevor Lloyd Massey has been a leader in post-secondary education and community service, and he has been driven by a lifelong dedication to supporting students, immigrants and marginalized communities in Ontario and beyond. Massey served as Registrar of Centennial College, and under his leadership the college was the first to implement a one-stop service at the Office of the Registrar at each of four campuses and utilize novel concepts in student information systems.

Massey served as Executive Director for an innovative college-system project (CIITE) given to exploring the ways the Ontario college system would leverage its educational resources and its extensive footprint across Ontario in supporting the integration into the workforce of highly trained immigrants.

Through his professional and volunteer work, Massey has impacted multiple segments of the educational sector, the leadership capacity of Canada’s Black community, and the civic landscape of the broader Canadian community.

Dr. Michael Organ has made groundbreaking contributions to organic chemistry, scientific innovation and public health. He is best known as the inventor of a novel flow reactor, which has allowed the manufacture of a critical molecule used in COVID-19 tests around the world. 

As a scientific entrepreneur, he founded Total Synthesis Ltd., a company that evolved from a chemical supplier into a hub of research that solves complex problems for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. 

Throughout his distinguished career, Organ has remained deeply connected to the University of Guelph, which he still considers home. 

Dasha Shenkman is a longtime advocate of the arts, with career experience spanning the creative fields of publishing, visual arts, theatre and music. A Canadian living in London, England, Shenkman worked as a literary agent for many years.   

The School of Fine Art and Music launched the Dasha Shenkman Lecture in Contemporary Art series in 2006, bringing some of the world’s most influential artists, curators and critics to this university. As a patron of the arts, Shenkman has worked with the National Gallery of Canada, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and many other arts organizations, both in Canada and the UK.   

In 2015, Shenkman was awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for services to philanthropy and the arts. The results of Shenkman’s efforts over the years to nurture young talent can be heard in concert halls around the world.

Roly Browning Watt has spent nearly 50 years volunteering with organizations across the community that provide seniors’ care, health care, arts and education, helping these groups find and mobilize resources to improve people’s lives. 

Through the OVC Pet Trust, at the Ontario Veterinary College, Watt helped raise millions of dollars to improve veterinary care and research and funding state-of-the-art facilities for animal cancer treatment, surgery and intensive care. 

He also worked to build breast and prostate cancer clinics at North York General Hospital, which has drastically reduced wait times for thousands of patients waiting for diagnosis each year. 

A life-long public servant, Elizabeth Witmer was first elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1990. Her time in office culminated with her appointment as Ontario’s deputy premier. Witmer was recognized as the longest serving female MPP when she stepped down in 2012.  

Witmer played a pivotal role in restructuring Ontario’s health-care system more than 25 years ago, helping build a system that was prepared to meet the needs of a changing and aging population. This included introducing multi-disciplinary family health networks, mental health reform, modernizing hospitals, expanding long-term care beds and introducing the first universal flu vaccine program in the world. 

Throughout her career, Witmer made significant contributions to economic, social and political life in Ontario.