91´«Ã½ to confer six honorary degrees during spring convocation ceremonies
Ref. no.: 137
A culmination of each student’s academic journey, 91´«Ã½â€™s 2026 spring convocation ceremonies will see almost 3,000 degrees, including more than 750 graduate degrees, conferred.
Convocation takes place at the Corner Brook Arts and Culture Centre on May 14 and at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre from May 26–29.
A graduation celebration will be held at the Lawrence O’Brien Arts Centre on June 12 for the Labrador Campus’s first cohort of graduates from the Arctic and Subarctic Futures graduate program at the School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies, and the first cohort of graduates from the Happy Valley-Goose Bay satellite site of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.
Honorary degree recipients
91´«Ã½ will also recognize six remarkable people for their leadership in cultural, academic and social spheres with the awarding of honorary degrees.
Honorary degrees will be awarded to Indigenous health trailblazer Mary Pia Benuen, historian and writer James Candow, cultural ambassador Alan Doyle, dedicated public servant George Furey, acclaimed artist Jean Claude Roy and law enforcement leader Cst. Georgina Short.
Full biographies of the honorary degree recipients follow below.
Honorary degree recipients are chosen from nominations submitted by the public to the Senate, the university’s academic governing body, after a careful examination of the grounds for their nomination. The honorary doctorate degree is designed to recognize extraordinary contributions to society or exceptional intellectual or artistic achievement.
The awarding of honorary doctorates, an important feature of 91´«Ã½â€™s convocation, serves to celebrate both the individual and the university as well as to inspire graduates, their families and guests.
For further information about convocation, please visit the convocation website. Ceremonies will be broadcast live on during each session of convocation. The recorded broadcasts will be archived on 91´«Ã½â€™s convocation website for future viewing.
Honorary degree recipients
Mary Pia Benuen
Mary Pia Benuen was raised in the traditional ways of the Innu.
A mother, caregiver and foster parent, Ms. Benuen has raised and guided many, offering stability, love and cultural grounding to Innu youth. A trailblazer in Indigenous health care and the first accredited Innu nurse, she has offered mentorship and guidance to countless health-care professionals and leaders.
Her life’s work has been rooted in compassion and dedicated community service. Her journey reflects extraordinary resilience. As a young Innu woman pursuing education away from home, she confronted discrimination, systemic barriers and repeated discouragement. Yet she persisted, driven by a childhood dream of becoming a nurse and a profound commitment to caring for her people.
Throughout her 35-year nursing career, Ms. Benuen served her community with steadfast courage in the face of significant challenges, including during the SARS, H1N1 and the COVID19 pandemics.
Her leadership extended beyond clinical expertise: she worked in hospitals and community clinics in Happy Valley-Goose Bay and North West River, as well as Natuashish and the North Coast of Labrador. She championed culturally grounded care and ensured Innu patients were treated with dignity and understanding within systems not designed for them. As the current director of Primary Health for Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation, she continues to shape Innu-led health governance with integrity and vision.
She is a member of Mamu Tshishkutamashutau Innu Education’s Curriculum Development Advisory Committee, served as an Innu Nation board member and was appointed to provincial advisory councils on women’s status, crime and community safety.
She was recognized with a provincial Honorary Cognition Award in 2024 and the Innu Nteimun Leadership Award in 2025.
For embodying the values of compassionate service and leadership as an Indigenous woman, nurse and elder, and for her transformative impact on Indigenous health in Labrador, Mary Pia Benuen will receive the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa.
James Candow
Independent historian and prolific writer James Candow was born in Gander, N.L.
He completed his BA (Hons.) in history from 91´«Ã½ in 1975 and his MA in history from Dalhousie University in 1977.
He then embarked on a career as a public historian at Parks Canada’s Atlantic headquarters in Halifax, N.S., where he spent 34 years. His detailed and diligent research supported programs and exhibits at national historic sites and national parks throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
His meticulous research, including pioneering work in oral history, revealed the rich history and cultural heritage of these sites and the diverse stories of the people who lived there, all while enriching visitors’ experiences.
The restoration of the Mudge family’s fish store and cabin at Broom Point in Gros Morne National Park received an award of merit from the American Association for State and Local History; the Ryan Premises National Historic Site in Bonavista took first place in the National Association for Interpretation’s interior exhibit category.
The body of literature he produced, both during his time with Parks Canada and since his retirement, is wide-ranging; it has shaped our understanding of the histories of Brigus, the Cape Spear lighthouse and the seal hunt. His book The Lookout: A History of Signal Hill was short-listed for the 2011 Atlantic Book Award for historical writing.
Mr. Candow’s book, The Invisibles: A History of the Royal Newfoundland Companies, has been critical to fully understanding Newfoundland and Labrador 19th-century politics and history.
His extensive record of scholarly engagement and incisive criticism has appeared in several journals, including the International Journal of Maritime History, the Journal of Caribbean History and the Canadian Historical Review.
For his significant contributions to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge about the history of Newfoundland and Labrador, James Candow will receive the degree of doctor of letters, honoris causa.
Alan Doyle
Alan Doyle was born in Petty Harbour, N.L.
His many and diverse impacts on the culture, identity and reputation of this province have been immeasurable.
While a 91´«Ã½ student completing his BA in English, he and his friends formed Great Big Sea, which would become one of Canada’s and certainly Newfoundland and Labrador’s most successful bands.
As an energetic and authentic front man, he has been uniquely capable of inspiring fans to fall in love with his romantic and rousing portrayals of our province. He tours internationally, selling out venues to enthusiastic fans, many of them likely homesick ex-patriates.
Mr. Doyle has also performed on and for the stage and in television and film. He acted in Robin Hood, A Winter's Tale, Republic of Doyle, Murdoch Mysteries and others. He has written musical scores for shows such as Law and Order, Son of a Critch and Heartland. On stage he is the star and co-creator of the box office-breaking musical comedy, Tell Tale Harbour.
An exceptional writer, Mr. Doyle has published four best-selling books, Where I Belong, A Newfoundlander in Canada, All Together Now and The Smiling Land.
Whether through music or writing, his yarns make one yearn for and reflect upon our shores, the fishing industry, our struggles, our joys, our sadness and our unending pride for our people, land and great big sea.
He is a member of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador and is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
For raising up audiences from Petty Harbour to the world, and for being one of Newfoundland and Labrador’s best and proudest cultural ambassadors, Alan Doyle will receive the degree of doctor of letters, honoris causa.
George Furey
George Furey was born in St. John’s, N.L.
Mr. Furey has passionately served his fellow Canadians through his long and varied career as an educator, public servant and as the first speaker of the Senate of Canada to hail from Newfoundland and Labrador.
A 91´«Ã½ alumnus, he earned a BA and a BA(Ed.) in 1970 and a M.Ed. in 1976.
He had a varied educational background, serving as a teacher in St. John’s Roman Catholic school board, a vice-principal in Stephenville Port-aux-Port school board and a principal in the Placencia-St. Mary’s school board.
Pivoting away from education, he completed a bachelor of law degree from Dalhousie University in 1983.
As a young lawyer, Mr. Furey successfully challenged the Criminal Code’s language on sexual assault and proved that with the advent of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, certain Criminal Code provisions were unconstitutional.
In 1996, he was appointed Queen’s Council and in 1999 he was named to the Senate of Canada by then-prime minister Jean Chrétien. In 2023, on the day of his retirement, he was appointed to the King’s Privy Council.
As a senator, he served on various committees, including as chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration. He served as speaker of the Senate from 2015 until his retirement in 2023. During his tenure as speaker, the Senate began a period of significant Senate reform.
A widely respected member of the community, he has served in leadership and volunteer positions on a number of provincial boards and associations.
For his exceptional and deeply impactful career in public service, George Furey will receive the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa. 
Jean Claude Roy
Jean Claude Roy was born in Rochefort sur Mer, France, in 1948.
The prolific, mostly self-taught and widely acclaimed artist graduated from the Lycée Technique de Saintes in 1966. He then attended merchant marine training, taking a job as an electrician on a cable repair boat.
His work took him frequently to the port of St. John's. He moved to the city in 1971, where he developed an interest in landscape painting and a deep and abiding love for the province and its people.
Mr. Roy eventually began painting full-time. He made his first sale in 1973, had his first group exhibition in 1974 and his first solo show in 1975. More exhibitions followed, including two solo shows at the 91´«Ã½ Art Gallery in 1978 and 1981.
He describes his style as expressionist-colourist and paints almost exclusively outdoors, every day. His signature sun is an important part of the composition of every work.
With many international exhibitions to his credit, Mr. Roy has also produced two books, Fluctuat Nec Mergitur, which includes a painting of every community on the island of Newfoundland, and Terra Magna, which depicts the landscapes of Labrador.
He taught Inuit youth at Torngat Mountains National Park, resulting in a mural at Torngat Mountains Basecamp and, since 2013, he has been involved in fundraising efforts with the Battle Harbour Historic Trust. Mr. Roy has been involved in several preservation projects as well. A collaboration with the French Shore Historical Society of Conche produced the 220-foot-long French Shore Tapestry.
He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal in 2012 and was awarded the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2023.
For the gift of his immense talent and prolific art, and for his legacy of observing, capturing and celebrating Newfoundland and Labrador’s rich geography and cultural heritage, Jean Claude Roy will receive the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa.
Cst. Georgina Short
Cst. Georgina Short was born in Stephenville, N.L.
Cst. Short had a 38-year career with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. In addition to being the longest-serving woman on the provincial police service, she was also among the first openly LGBTQ+ officers. 
Her leadership has been marked by a commitment to community-based policing through engagement and work to increase trust between law enforcement and marginalized communities. 
She is a recipient of the Police Exemplary Service Bar for loyal and meritorious service to law enforcement in Canada. 
Outside of her career, she is known for her significant voluntary contributions, including as a dedicated member of the St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog Program. On a weekly basis, Ms. Short and her beloved Shih Tzus visit seniors in long-term care facilities, patients in hospitals, students at 91´«Ã½ and other educational facilities for the benefit of others. Ms. Short is also an active volunteer with NL Health Services’ Palliative Care Unit.
Cst. Short has been recognized provincially and nationally for not only volunteering her time but helping organizations reach fundraising milestones. She is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals and the King Charles III Coronation Medal. She received the highest honour of St. John Ambulance and was appointed The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem (The Order of St. John) to the grade of serving member. In addition, she is an aide-de-camp to the lieutenant-governor of Newfoundland and Labrador. 
For embodying the values of compassionate service and leadership through a career in law enforcement and for her unwavering commitment to equity and inclusion in her life and her work, Georgina Short will receive the degree of doctor of laws, honoris causa.
-30-
For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact Michelle Osmond, manager of communications planning for 91´«Ã½, at mlosmond@mun.caor 709-728-2364.