Press Release

Wednesday, May 09, 2018

The Université de Moncton to award five honorary degrees during graduation ceremonies in May

The Université de Moncton will award honorary degrees to five eminent persons who have distinguished themselves through an exceptional contribution to their field, during graduation ceremonies to be held on the three campuses in May.

At the Shippagan campus graduation ceremonies that will be held on Friday, May 18 starting at 2 p.m., at the sports pavilion, the chancellor, Jean-Claude Savoie, will award an honorary degree in Theatre to Jules Boudreau.

At the Edmundston campus, the chancellor will award an honorary degree in Forestry to George Bouchard. The ceremony will take place on Saturday, May 19 at 2 p.m., at the Cité des jeunes A.-M.-Sormany.

At the Moncton campus graduating ceremonies, the Université will award an honorary degree in Arts and Culture to Senator René Cormier, as well as an honorary degree in Arts to Jean-Baptiste Sercq. Annette Boudreau will become professor emeritus in French Studies. The ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 26 at 1:30 p.m., in the CEPS Louis-J.-Robichaud stadium.

George Bouchard
Honorary degree in Forestry
Edmundston campus

In 1971, George Bouchard started his career as a public servant, working as an auditor with the Department of National Revenue. He then worked as an economic development officer for the Department of Regional Economic Development, he was jointly responsible for the federal-provincial forestry agreement and a member of the federal-provincial committee that would introduce the New Brunswick system of industrial commissions.

Between 1974 and 1980, he was the first industrial commissioner in northwestern New Brunswick. Mr. Bouchard then worked actively on major files for the region, including the development of industrial parks and the Saint-Léonard airport. After having held a senior management position at Nadeau and Nadeau Furniture, between 1980 and 1983, he returned to the public service in 1984, becoming the first chief rentals man for New Brunswick. In 1984, he became assistant deputy minister of the Department of Economic Development.

In the 1970s, his participation in several round tables on forests led to new forest legislation. He represented New Brunswick with the Maritime Lumber Bureau at the federal government negotiating table for the first two agreements with the United States on softwood lumber. He was also very active in helping establish the Northern Hardwoods Research Institute, a novel partnership between logging companies, the private sector, governments and the Université de Moncton.

Since graduating from the Université de Moncton in 1971, Mr. Bouchard has maintained close ties with his alma mater, remaining very active with L’alUMni. He is also a member of the Order of Regents. He sat on the Board of Governors for three years and helped implement U de M développement inc., a project that led to the design and development of the Université de Moncton research and development campus.

Annette Boudreau
Professor emeritus in French Studies
Moncton campus

Annette Boudreau has dedicated much of her career to promoting the language of minority community Francophones and studying the role of the minority community in the building of identity. She analyzes the relationships between linguistic practices and representations, identity building and social structure, in Canada’s Francophone minority communities. She is particularly interested in the issue of linguistic security/insecurity and its applications in Acadia of the Maritimes.

A Université de Moncton graduate, Ms. Boudreau also holds a Master of Arts from the Université de Provence, a Diplôme d’études approfondies from Université Paul-Valery and a doctorate from Université Paris X-Nanterre.

Initially professor of French as a second language with the Department of Translation and Languages between 1975 and 1989, Ms. Boudreau then taught first-language French and linguistics courses, after which she officially integrated the Department of French Studies, in 1991, where she supervised or helped supervise over twenty masters and doctoral theses. Ms. Boudreau has distinguished herself through her research excellence and teaching rigour.

She was director and co-director of the Centre de recherche en linguistique appliquée (CRLA), where she carried out numerous activities, in addition to her research work, such as the holding of symposiums, conferences and study sessions. She made a name for the CRLA as a nationally and internationally renowned research centre.

She has received several awards and honours, notably the Teaching Excellence Award (2012), the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique awarded by the Conseil supérieur de la langue française (2015) and the Prix de la Renaissance awarded by the Académie des sciences d’outre-mer, in Paris (2016).

Jules Boudreau
Honorary degree in Theatre
Shippagan campus

Jules Boudreau is recognized as the author of some of the first popular plays of contemporary Acadian theatre, notably La Bringue, Cochu et le soleil, Les Bessons and Louis Mailloux. He also wrote the script and dialogue for the musical La Lambique. A playwright and theatre facilitator, he produced several radio dramas that were broadcast on Radio-Canada, including Louise et le soldat, La Reine Horse, Poker électrique and Requiem pour Florian.

Mr. Boudreau’s plays have been published by Éditions d’Acadie and Éditions La Grande Marée. He also published a collection of short stories, Chroniques d’une île de la côte (1999), the children’s novel, Le Mystère de la maison grise (2003) and the collection of biographies, Bâtisseurs de l’Acadie (2014). He was a founding member of several theatre groups, including Les Élouèzes, le Théâtre de la dune and the Troupe 2%.

Mr. Boudreau worked as a volunteer for many organizations, he was president of the Société culturelle Centr’Art de Caraquet, member of the board of directors of the Théâtre populaire d’Acadie, member of the executive committee of the Conseil provincial des sociétés culturelles, to name a few.

Mr. Boudreau studied at Université Sacré-Cœur, in Bathurst, where he received a BA and B.Ed. He then went on to study dramatic writing and writing for radio, as well as script development.

From 1991 to 1997, he was town councillor for Maisonnette and, from 1998 to 2001, he served as mayor of the municipality. He returned to politics in 2012 and is currently deputy mayor of Maisonnette.

Jules Boudreau has received numerous honours, including the prix spécial du jury France-Acadie, in recognition of his body of work (2010), the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for High Achievement in the Arts (2014), and the insignia of the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique (2017).

René Cormier
Honorary degree in Arts and Letters
Campus de Moncton

The Honourable René Cormier has a long professional history in the field of arts and culture. A renowned leader and accomplished artist, Senator Cormier has been working for nearly forty years towards a better integration of arts and culture in every aspect of Acadian and Canadian society. He joined the Senate of Canada as an independent, nonpartisan senator in 2016.

Educated in music at the Université du Québec à Montréal and in theatre at the École internationale Jacques LeCoq, in Paris, he has held a number of positions within Canada’s cultural ecosystem, including that of artistic director, stage director, actor, musical director, musician, composer, choreographer, cultural manager, communicator and facilitator.

He has led many cultural organizations and events, including the musical direction and hosting of variety shows on Radio-Canada television, artistic and general direction of the Théâtre populaire d’Acadie, artistic direction of the National Arts Centre’s Zones Théâtrales biennial, artistic direction of the 2009 Congrès mondial acadien, and management of the Estates General on Arts and Culture in Acadian Society within the Association acadienne des artistes professionnel.le.s du Nouveau-Brunswick (AAAPNB). He was chairman of the board of directors of the Société Nationale de l’Acadie, an organization representing the Acadian people, regionally, nationally and internationally. Senator Cormier has also chaired many other national and international organizations, in addition to sitting on a number of boards of directors.

Senator Cormier has received several honours for his contributions to the cultural field: the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique (2008), the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (2003), the Éloize prize for Artist of the Year in Theatre (2000), and the prix Marcus for his contribution to francophone theatre.

Jean-Baptiste Sercq
Honorary degree in Arts
Moncton campus

Jean-Baptiste Sercq is dedicated to promoting francophone arts and culture throughout the world. A great collector of works of art, exposition commissioner and curator, he loves Acadia and art.

Since 1996, he has presided over La francophilie, an association dedicated to the cultivation of francophone culture, by organizing international arts events and promoting francophone designers, creators and composers.

It was almost 40 years ago that Mr. Sercq created an art bank of works by artists of La Francophonie. Today, his private collection includes over 500 works, including over 300 from Acadian artists, such as Roméo Savoie, Herménégilde Chiasson, Dominik Robichaud, Yvon Gallant, Lionel Cormier, Elaine Amyot, Paul Édouard Bourque, Michel Robichaud, Amber Lounder, etc.

Mr. Sercq has instigated, organized and curated many exhibitions, showcasing Acadian artists regionally, nationally and internationally. Mr. Sercq’s cultural events have helped promote, not only Acadian artists, but also the Université de Moncton Department of Visual Arts and New Brunswick. His organization of over thirty international exhibitions of Acadian visual arts has led to what is now referred to as the “Moncton School.” Through his initiatives, he has also facilitated and fostered cultural exchanges between artists from both near and far.

Mr. Sercq has been decorated as Knight of the Legion of Merit and the National Order of Merit by the French government. He received the Jubilee Medal from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for his exceptional contribution to the country.



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