Fall Virtual Celebration Graduation Special Edition September 25, 2020Message from the President To say that I am proud of the Fall 2020 graduates would be an understatement! This has been an academic year like no other. The entire university community – myself included – has been inspired by the resilience, leadership, and compassion shown by our graduates in the face of unprecedented challenges over the past months. Your experience at Saint Mary’s has prepared you well for this moment. You have met people from all over the world, broadening your perspectives and intercultural understanding. Your professors have helped you study the past to change the future and solve problems using innovation and creativity. You have grown, personally and intellectually, and developed the skills to help you succeed, no matter what path you choose to pursue. This special edition Graduation Celebration program will be a reminder for years to come that the Class of Fall 2020 did not stumble in the face of adversity but instead stepped forward with courage and determination. As you begin this new chapter in your lives, with lessons learned and eyes to the future, please know that you are, and always will be, a part of the Santamarian community. Congratulations on your achievements! I can’t wait to see what your future holds. Robert Summerby-Murray, Ph.D. President and Vice-ChancellorUniversity MOTTO Age Quod Agis Age Quod Agis means to ‘do what you do.’ This phrase exhorts us to focus on our work, to be in the moment, and devote our fullest attention to the task at hand. It is a call for dedication, a focus on duty and perseverance, a statement of process. It is a proclamation of the importance of disciplining ourselves to our studies, to our scientific, artistic, cultural, commercial, and athletic pursuits. It is a call to action to act in the world, to shoulder responsibility, to champion social justice, environmental justice, and ethical values.The President’s Hall of Academic Excellence, located in the main hallway of the McNally Building, directly outside the President’s Office, displays the names of all students who earned one of these distinctions. The Hall also includes the names of students who won academic medals at graduation. Degrees and Diplomas Awarded with Distinctions At Saint Mary’s University in the general undergraduate degree and diploma programs, academic distinctions are awarded to successful candidates on the basis of the following cumulative grade point averages of all courses taken at Saint Mary’s University. There are no distinctions awarded in graduate and certificate programs. BA, BES, BComm, & BSc Grade Point Av. Diploma in Engineering summa cum laude 4.00 - 4.30 with greatest distinction magna cum laude 3.85 - 3.99 with great distinction cum laude 3.70 - 3.84 with distinction Medals & AWARDS Details about these awards can be found in the 'About Saint Mary's' section of this program. Recipient: Nicolas Decker Bickford Recipient: Mohamed Yousif Mohamed MahmoudBachelor Recipient: Shelby Skye Grahamachelor of Master of Management Co-Operatives and Credit Unions: The McMullan & Rege Honours in Criminology Convocation Award Master of Finance Gold Medal Pobihuschy Medal John and Heather Fitzpatrick Recipients: Beverlee Anne Margaret MacLellan Brianna Grace McNutt Ciaro Mical Moxey Quintina Olivia Rolle Valedictorian Awards Donor: John BA’81, DCL’17, QC & Heather Fitzpatrick Donor: Dr. Aunshul Rege Donors: Dr. J. Colin Dodds and FamilyIn 1984, Saleh (Sal) AmirKhalkhali joined the Department of Economics at Saint Mary's University. During his years at the university, he taught ten undergraduate courses at the introductory, intermediate and advanced levels. Additionally, Dr. AmirKhalkhali instructed ten graduate courses in different programs, including MBA, EMBA, MFIN, and MAE. Dr. AmirKhalkhali has an extensive research record in many topic areas, including capital mobility, public debt, economic growth and econometric methods. Moreover, he presented research papers in numerous, well-established regional, national and international, national conferences. Many journals have published Dr. AmirKhalkhali's research papers, including Applied Economics, Applied Econometrics and International Development, Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Public Administration, Canadian Public Policy, Canadian Tax Journal, Communications in Statistics, Development Policy Review, Eastern Economic Journal, Economic Modeling, Economic Notes, Empirical Economics, IMF Staff Papers, Journal of Policy Modeling, Journal of Statistical Computation and Simulation, Southern Economic Journal, The Indian Journal of Statistics (Sankhya), and The Statistician (published by the Royal Statistical Society). In addition to being a member and chairing several faculty and departmental committees, Dr. AmirKhalkhali served as Department Chair. Furthermore, he served as a member of several Senate subcommittees, the University Appointments Committee and the University Review Committee. Before joining the faculty at Saint Mary's University, Dr. AmirKhalkhali was an Assistant Professor at Dalhousie University and enjoyed a successful career as a Senior Economist in both Tehran and Brussels. During his post-secondary education, he ranked first among his peers at Shiraz Pahlavi University. Additionally, he was a Killam Scholar at Dalhousie University, where he obtained both an MA and PhD. For 36 years, Dr. AmirKhalkhali has enjoyed the warm and collegial environment that his students, colleagues, and staff have provided him. As Professor Emeritus, he looks forward to his continued association with the Economics Department, the Sobey School of Business, and Saint Mary's University. professor emeritusValedictorians Born and raised in the unceded territory of Mi'kma'ki, Beverlee is the mixed-race descendant of three local communities: Scottish settlers, Black/African Nova Scotians and Mi'kmaq people/L'nu. Due to their passion for political reform inherited from multiple family lineages and personal experiences, Beverlee returned to post-secondary education as a mature student. During their time at Saint Mary's, they were involved in student activist work. Part of that work included being a panelist in two of the Critical Indigenous, Race, and Feminist Student Conferences to discuss mixed-race identities and environmental racism. There is a broad appreciation for Beverlee's dedication to knowledge, equity, truth, and creativity. Being a lover and a fighter sets Beverlee apart from others. They are also one of the first students to graduate from the university with a major in Social Justice and Community Studies. Beverlee MacLellan Bachelor of Arts Grace hails from Sydney, Nova Scotia, and attended Cape Breton University (CBU) to complete her undergraduate degree. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Honours in History. She was awarded CBU’s Silver Medal for the highest aggregate in a 4-year BA program and the Angus “Gus” Morrison Memorial Scholarship for excellence in History. Following graduation, Grace began her graduate studies at Saint Mary’s University, enrolling in the Master of Arts - Atlantic Canada Studies Program. Last year, she was awarded a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Scholarship by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In June 2020, Grace successfully defended her MA thesis “Oppression in the Shadows: the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia and the Development of Indian Affairs, 1760-1950”. Grace intends to begin her doctoral studies in September 2021. This coming year, she looks forward to presenting her MA research to the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society. Grace McNutt Master of ArtsNext >