2017 honorary degree recipients reflect diverse backgrounds
An honorary degree is the highest recognition bestowed by the University of Regina. Three exceptional people received honorary doctorate degrees at the 2017 Spring Convocation ceremonies held June 7 – 9 at the Conexus Arts Centre. Meet this year’s recipie
BEVERLY ANN BUSSON
Beverley Ann Busson didn’t realize the long-term impact of being in the first class of female RCMP members training in Regina in 1974.
“When I look back, my troopmates and I were, I believe, naively unaware that what we were undertaking would be looked upon as groundbreaking, or that we were trailblazers for the next generations of female members or others in traditionally male roles who came after us,” she says.
Busson went on to break a lot of ground during her career with the RCMP, culminating in being named the first female Commissioner in 2006.
A big reason for her success is her belief in – and practice of – lifelong learning. Busson earned an education degree and worked with children with special needs in the early 1970s, before her RCMP training. During the 1980s, she studied criminology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. She then earned a law degree at the University of British Columbia in 1990.
“I have long believed in the value of continuous learning and feel strongly that the professionalization of policing rests on fostering learning and the critical thinking that comes from learning throughout one’s life,” she explains.
Busson clearly remembers when she first arrived in Regina to start training with the RCMP. “Regina in 1974 was a very interesting place for a young woman from Nova Scotia. My troop arrived in September, just in time for winter. Need I say more?”
During her training, Busson encountered the University of Regina, which had become an independent institution just a few months earlier. “I recall that at least one of our courses on diversity was co-instructed by a number of professors from University of Regina. They made a huge impression on all of us,” she says.
As a new RCMP officer, she was posted to a number of detachments in British Columbia, where she worked in a variety of areas.
Busson became the first woman in the RCMP to be promoted to inspector when she took over responsibilities in North Battleford in 1992. She was later transferred to Vancouver and, in 1998, she was named the RMCP’s first female commanding officer, and returned to Saskatchewan.
Although she now is retired from the RCMP, Busson is well aware of the leading-edge work the University is doing in the field of law enforcement.
“My son-in-law is one of many members of the RCMP that has studied and graduated from the University of Regina and is presently pursuing a masters in Police Studies there. I have always encouraged those around me to make formal learning an important part of their professional development. The University of Regina has been a leader in facilitating an environment that combines academic study together with life experience to create learning applicable to the real world and its challenges. This is especially evident in the policing field in this new and complex world.”
As she reflects on her career with the RCMP, she says times have changed for the better.
“I now routinely meet with members, both male and female, who work together and do so with respect, yet [they have] little recognition of how different it was just 40 some years ago. I take great pride in the number of female police officers and police leaders in the force and how their role is accepted without a blink. That is real progress – and how it should be.”
Busson will receive her honorary degree on Friday, June 9.
“I was very surprised and humbled to be named as a recipient of an honorary degree. I have made it my life’s work to try to make a difference and, in my journey, had the opportunity to do it at many different roles within the RCMP,” Busson says.
TIM HEARN
Tim Hearn, retired chairman, president and chief executive officer of Imperial Oil Limited, credits his career success to growing up in Regina.
“That is where a lot of my personal characteristics and values were developed, which were hugely influential and beneficial throughout my life,” says Hearn.
Hearn was born in Regina. He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science.
“While Saskatchewan was a great place to grow up and develop, unfortunately at that time if you weren’t going to work in agriculture or public service, there were not a lot of other opportunities for young graduates. So many of us left to pursue new horizons elsewhere,” he explains.
Fresh out of university, Hearn joined Imperial Oil as a marketing representative and was promoted to increasingly senior positions over the years. He says growing up in Regina helped him develop the skills he needed to climb the corporate ladder.
“Some of the important characteristics that were ingrained in that environment were: diligence and dedication to all important tasks; encouragement for creativity; ingenuity, but underpinned with a strong element of pragmatism; commitment to honesty; and integrity in everything one did. And all of this was reinforced by maintaining a strong element of humility in all aspects of life,” he says.
Hearn held a variety of positions in marketing, logistics, and systems and computer services. He was named vice-president of Marketing Retail for Imperial in 1986 and vice-president of Marketing Retail and Commercial Business in 1990.
He later served as vice-president of Human Resources at Imperial Oil’s parent firm, Exxon Mobil Corporation. He was worldwide vice-president of Intermediates for Exxon Chemical Company and later became president of Exxon’s Asia-Pacific operations, based in Singapore.
Although his career took him to several countries, his fondness for his native province never left him.
“It is truly extraordinary how many people from Saskatchewan went on to be highly successful in other parts of the country and in numerous walks of life. A significant number of other energy company CEOs also came from Saskatchewan I again attribute this to the character and culture of the province,” Hearn says.
Since retiring from his 41-year career with Imperial Oil, Hearn has served on a number of boards, including the C.D. Howe Institute, the Calgary Homeless Foundation, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (now Business Council of Canada) and the Royal Bank of Canada. He has also been a director with Tuckamore Capital Management Inc. (now ClearStream Energy Services) and Viterra Inc. He is currently a director with ARC Resources Ltd. and CGI Group Inc.
In addition to his work on corporate boards, he serves as a member of the advisory board at the University of Calgary: the School of Public Policy and previously the Cumming School of Medicine Advisory Board. He was a member of the joint committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and currently serves as chair of Hearn and Associates. “In accepting this award, for me it is truly an acknowledgement that much of my success in career and life directly emanates from my Saskatchewan roots and upbringing,” he says.
KENNETH LEVENE
When Ken Levene learned from President Timmons that he was receiving an honorary degree, his first reaction was “Why me?” Since then he has come to see the honour as a family one.
“I am honoured and humbled by this honour,” Levene says. “It not only honours me but it also honours my mother and father and my grandparents and the influence they had on me. If my grandfather hadn’t left the old country, none of this would have happened. I share the honour with my predecessors.”
In many ways, Levene’s story begins with the story of David, his immigrant grandfather, who left the oppression of his native Russia in 1911 for a better life in North America. He said his goodbyes to his parents and siblings and also to his young wife and baby daughter, with whom he would be reunited as soon as he found a job.
Levene’s grandfather arrived in New York and began working as a presser in a dry cleaning shop. He soon concluded that toiling on his feet for 12 hours a day in 35 degree heat was not his vision of a better life. He wrote a friend from Russia who was living in the small town of Plum Coulee, Manitoba. Before long, David was on his way to Canada.
Although he spoke little English, he obtained a horse and wagon and began peddling dry goods and other assorted items to the surrounding area. Soon, he earned enough to bring over his wife and daughter. After a few years, he
could afford to buy a general store in Southey, Saskatchewan. In 1929 he pursued a new business opportunity in Regina and founded Crescent Furniture.
Eventually, he built larger and more modern premises, which were completed just before his untimely passing in 1943.
Ken Levene’s father, David, entered the business and was later joined by his brother-in-law Joe, who had returned home after serving overseas with the Canadian Army. Together, they added branches in Swift Current and Moose Jaw.
While supporting many Jewish causes, Levene’s parents also stressed the importance of contributing to the general community in which they lived. Levene’s father served as president of the Regina Rotary Club and chaired the Salvation Army fundraising drive. His mother was on the executive of the Regina branch of the National Council of Women.
Levene earned a Bachelor of Commerce from McGill University and an MBA from the Harvard School of Business. Upon his father’s passing in 1962, Levene, with the valued help and support of his mother Margery, became the third generation operator of Crescent Furniture. In 1984, they decided to close the business, ending 55 years of continuous family operation.
“I’m proud to say we had a good reputation all those years in the business,” he says. “We treated our customers and employees right. One thing I did with the new owners was have them sign a letter that I gave to each employee guaranteeing they wouldn’t lose their jobs or suffer a pay cut.”
In 2005, Levene made a $4-million donation to the University to establish the Kenneth Levene Graduate School of Business.
So, how did the establishment of the School come together?
“It started with my suggestion to Donor Relation’s Darlene Freitag that I give a scholarship to a business student,” says Levene. “That was followed some time later with a lunch meeting in Calgary with Darlene and then dean Garnet Garven. It was then that I proposed the creation of a graduate school of business at the University in my name. After some resistance to the designation of the word ‘School,’ my suggestion was accepted and an agreement was finalized with then president David Barnard.”
As part of the gift agreement, Levene established an advisory board, of which he is a permanent member.
“It’s very pleasing when a graduate comes up to me and thanks me,” he says. “That’s part of giving back. What I like about the gift is that it’s not like putting your name on a building. This is a continuing, living entity that goes on. It’s also very satisfying personally to be involved as an advisor to the school.”
Levene is retired and lives in Calgary.
“I made my gift for three reasons,” Levene says. “The first was to honour my parents for what they did for me. The second was to give back to the community. The third reason was to create something that would continue to drive the success of Regina and Saskatchewan and create a climate of opportunity for others.”