Honorary degrees for Mulroney, Gotlieb and Spencer

Doctorates awarded on Dec. 5

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, ambassador Allan Gotlieb and film producer Michael Spencer will be given honorary doctorates at convocation in Place des Arts on Dec. 5.

Mr. Mulroney would have received the honour at spring convocation last June, but he was recovering from a serious illness.

He was Canada’s eighteenth prime minister, and served nearly nine years, from 1984 to 1993, winning two successive majorities. His tenure saw the introduction of the free trade agreement with the United States and the Canada-U.S. acid rain treaty.

He was a member of Concordia’s Board of Governors from 1978 to 1983, and served as honorary treasurer of a capital campaign for the university.

Allan E. Gotlieb served as Canadian ambassador to the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as deputy minister of Communications and of Employment and Immigration, and he was chairman of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Mr. Gotlieb is a graduate of the University of California, Harvard, Oxford, the University of Toronto, and six other universities. Among other things, he has been an editor of the Harvard Law Review and a visiting professor at Harvard and several Oxford colleges, and he is a member of the Bar in England.

He is currently senior advisor in the Toronto office of Stikeman Elliott LLP, and serves as Canadian chairman and North American vice-chairman of the Trilateral Commission.

Born in England, educated at Rugby and Oxford, Michael Spencer was holidaying in Canada when World War II broke out. He worked as a cameraman for Ottawa’s Crawley Films, and then joined the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit.

After the war he joined the National Film Board of Canada as a producer, and in the 1960s, he was pivotal in establishing the Canadian Film Development Corporation. Under his leadership, the CFDC invested in more than 200 features. He has received many honours for his lifetime contributions to the Canadian film industry.