U of T Mississauga graduands prepare for June 6 ceremonies

The ranks of University of Toronto Mississauga alumni will swell to 40,000 following three convocation ceremonies at U of T's Convocation Hall in June.

About 1,500 U of T Mississauga graduates will join an illustrious community of alumni that includes astronaut Roberta Bondar, Little Mosque on the Prairie actor Zaib Shaikh and CTV reporter Karlene Nation. A majority of graduates will attend the June 6 ceremonies which take place in historic Convocation Hall, built in 1907 with funds from alumni and friends of the university.

Over the past 10 years or so, we have seen an increase in the number of our students who return for convocation, says Sue Prior, manager of alumni development at U of T Mississauga. It's a wonderful day for the graduates with their proud parents and extended families attending, and I'm delighted that so many take part in such a historic U of T tradition. They will never forget the experience.

The three ceremonies will be held at 9:30 a.m. (Honours Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts); 2 p.m. (Honours Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science); and 5 p.m. (Bachelor of Business Administration, Bachelor of Commerce.)

The first and last convocations will feature two U of T Mississauga alumni as speakers while the 2 p.m. convocation will include a speech from honorary graduand Yong Guan Koh.

Desmond Parker, who graduated from U of T Mississauga in 1976 with a bachelor of arts in modern languages (French and Spanish), will speak at the morning convocation. Parker is chief of protocol at the United Nations, with an office that services the protocol needs of 192 member states as well as UN agencies such an UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Over his 17-year career at the UN, Parker has held various positions including human rights officer in Haiti and Liberia. He pursued a master's degree in Francophone literature and a post-graduate diploma in education while lecturing in French language and literature at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria.

John Switzer, who graduated from U of T Mississauga in 1970 with a bachelor of arts in economics and math, will speak at the 5 p.m. convocation. Switzer pursued a career in the financial services industry, but always kept volunteerism at the forefront of his life - in governance at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and at the national office of the United Church of Canada. A member of the Principal's Advisory Council at U of T Mississauga, he now serves on Governing Council, U of T's highest decision-making body. Switzer has recently assumed the role of chair of the Research Innovation and Commercialization Centre of Mississauga.

Koh, who will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree at the 2 p.m. ceremony, currently serves as High Commissioner of Singapore to Canada and is one of the most distinguished public servants in the modern history of Singapore. He is widely recognized as part of a select group of key Singaporean civil servants who were responsible for the economic transformation of their fledgling city-state within a single generation, and for the promotion of ethno-cultural diversity within the public sector of Singapore. He completed degrees in engineering at the University of Toronto and obtained a Masters in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium