Dalhousie is presenting eight outstanding individuals with honorary degrees during Spring Convocation ceremonies in May and June. Honorary degrees are awarded to individuals across a wide range of disciplines and achievements. They recognize people who have shown inspirational leadership; outstanding contributions to a field or discipline of study or a non‐academic area of achievement; and/or outstanding achievement at or contributions to Dalhousie. Candidates are reviewed and recommended by the Senate Honorary Degrees Committee and approved by the university Senate. The 2022 honorary degree cohort consists of five people who are already alumni and three more who soon become alumni (as all honorary degree recipients officially join our alumni community if they’re not a member already). They represent Dal’s supporters and friends, and we are grateful in the Office of Advancement for the many ways they enrich our community.

Honouring Dr. George Mencher: International leader in audiology and hearing loss

Dr. George Mencher has been active in the field of audiology around the world for more than five decades. In addition to his work as a professor of audiology in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Dalhousie from 1974 to 2012, he was instrumental in founding the school itself.

He also served as director of the Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Centres for over 20 years. Throughout his life, Dr. Mencher has volunteered in dozens of countries to develop screening programs, train personnel and provide audiology services. He was instrumental in the establishment of infant hearing screening programs across Canada and is a pioneer in the early identification of hearing loss.

Leader in professional associations

With over 100 scholarly articles and seven books to his credit, Dr. Mencher has served in a variety of roles, including secretary general and president for the International Society of Audiology; president of Speech-Language Audiology Canada; president of the Canadian Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists; and on several federal government task forces on hearing impairment and audiology.

He has received the Honors of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association, the Global Village Award for Significant Contributions to Audiology Worldwide from the American Audiology Association, and the Honours of the Association from the Canadian Academy of Audiology.