“Our spring convocation honorary degree recipients remind all of us of the importance of talent, integrity, passion and wisdom,” said U of A chancellor Ralph Young. “It is my hope that these outstanding individuals will inspire our graduates to consider leadership roles in the many local, national and international communities our university serves.”
Beckie Scott
By the time she retired from nearly two decades of competitive cross-country skiing in 2006, Beckie Scott had rewritten the Canadian cross-country record books. A three-time Olympian, she won a gold medal at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City and silver at the 2006 Olympics in Torino. Scott’s career accomplishments on the trails are matched only by her work off. Her tireless advocacy for drug-free sport landed her a role as Canada’s representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Athlete Committee in 2005. She was one of only two international athletes elected by her peers to the International Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission for an eight-year term during the 2006 Olympics. Also a firm believer in charitable endeavours, the Alberta-born and raised Scott is active in Right to Play, an organization that uses the power of sport to transform the lives of children in the most disadvantaged parts of the world, and Ski Fit North, a cross-country ski initiative directed at impoverished First Nations youngsters. She was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. Beckie Scott will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree June 4 at 3 p.m.
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