Honorary Degree Books 2025
Peggy Garritty
Peggy Garritty has made significant contributions to education, culture and community development in Alberta and beyond. A two-time U of A graduate, she served as chancellor from 2020 to 2024, distinguishing herself as a champion of student engagement and enhanced Indigenous representation during convocation, and strengthening the university’s reputation amid the challenges of a global pandemic. Notably, she established the award-winning podcast, Bridging Connections, which brought people together to discuss important issues such as human rights, the war in Ukraine, online hate, the housing crisis and the power of music. As a vice-president at ATB Financial, she was instrumental in transforming its brand, creating a corporate giving program and supporting vulnerable communities. Her extensive community involvement includes board positions with numerous prominent arts and health organizations. Her mentorship, advocacy and purposeful leadership have been recognized with the Queen’s Diamond and Platinum Jubilee Medals.
The WunderCabinet
Handmade by book artists Barbara Hodgson and Claudia Cohen, this deluxe limited first edition is a fully-stocked specimen cabinet decorated with gorgeous wood veneers laid in geometric patterns and housing a unique assortment of objects in a series of compartments along with a leather-bound book which contains even more wonders. Inspired by the Renaissance idea of a cabinet of curiosities, in which large collections of rare and exotic objects were housed in a room or in a piece of furniture, this contemporary cabinet of curiosities contains an astonishing array of treasures, including fossilized shark teeth, a magic lantern slide, a silkworm cocoon, a bone spindle, glass eyeballs, and a Tasmanian tree fern. A gorgeously-imagined moveable museum from two very talented book artists who worked in collaboration with one of Canada’s most respected private presses, this is a special addition to the important collection of artists’ books housed in the Peel library. [N 7433.4 H695 A6 W85 2011]
Radhe & Krishna Gupta
From India, Radhe and Krishna Gupta have become leaders in Canadian real estate and are among Alberta’s most dedicated philanthropists. Radhe began his career as an engineer before founding Rohit Group with his wife, Krishna, in 1986. Launched from their home office, the business has grown from a small homebuilder to a national real estate company that now encompasses retail, office, land development, residential rentals, homebuilding and health infrastructure development. Giving back to the community has always been a cornerstone of Radhe and Krishna’s values. They established an annual fundraiser called Baskets of Hope for WIN House, and have been major donors to organizations including Habitat for Humanity, the City of St. Albert, City of Edmonton, Newcomer Centre, Mental Health Foundation, Little Warriors, Stollery Children’s Hospital and NorQuest College. Their commitment to community leadership also extends into their business, as Rohit Group partnered with the City of Edmonton on the First Place Program to deliver affordable housing for first-time homebuyers. Beyond the local community, they have also built a hospital, a cemetery and a school in Radhe’s hometown of Joura, India.
Charles Dickens and Gad's Hill Place: Correspondence between Charles Dickens, the Rev. Joseph Hindle, and W.H. Wills, 1856–1857
This extraordinary collection of unpublished autograph letters documents Charles Dickens' (1812–1870) purchase of Gad’s Hill Place, his cherished dream home and the residence where he spent his final 14 years. The collection features a letter signed by Dickens, seven letters from his agent William Henry Wills (1810–1880), and four letters from the tenant Joseph Hindle (1794–1874), each window-mounted and presented with a corresponding typescript. The collection also includes a frontispiece watercolour portrait of Dickens and four pen-and-ink drawings of the house by Alicia Darrington, a calligraphic title page, and an introductory essay by F.J. Harvey Darton (1878–1936). In his introduction, Darton explains that Dickens' acquisition of Gad's Hill Place fulfilled a childhood dream: “Charles Dickens had a singular knack of making his dreams come true, as well as of translating his experience into fiction. In a well-known passage in The Uncommercial Traveller he tells how he saw in his boyhood, and coveted, the house in which, as things turned out, he actually was to spend some of the most crowded years of his life, at the height of his reputation” (1). Bound in full red morocco by the renowned English bookbinders Sangorski & Sutcliffe, this volume presents an attractive binding featuring gilt work on the spine and borders, Dickens’ gilt lion emblem and initials on the front cover, and his gilt signature on the rear. The bookplate of W.A. Foyle (William Alfred Westropp Foyle, 1885–1963) inside the front cover signifies the previous ownership of this volume by the co-founder of Foyles, the renowned twentieth-century bookshop that was first located in Cecil Court, close to Leicester Square, London, after its establishment in 1903 with his brother Gilbert. [PR 4584 C43 1930 folio]
Dr Kenrick Lewis
Kenrick Lewis is one of the leading chemists of his generation, whose innovations in the science of silanes and silicones are so far-reaching, chances are you’ve used something in the last 24 hours that was derived from his work. Lewis made the journey to Edmonton from his hometown of Gouyave, Grenada, to study chemistry at the U of A. After earning his BSc, he continued his academic pursuits at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he obtained his PhD before beginning a career in the silicones industry. Currently a distinguished corporate research fellow at Momentive Performance Materials Inc., Lewis holds numerous patents and frequently bridges the gap between academia and industry through publications and collaborations. His work has made silanes and silicones production a more efficient, economical and ecologically friendly process. Lewis has always championed the opportunities that education provides, and for 21 years he funded a scholarship at his former primary school in Grenada. He has also mentored high school students in Tarrytown, helping encourage the future generation of scientific leaders.
The Chemistry We Use
This charming chemistry text book was issued as part of the Science Service Chemistry Series edited by Helen Miles Davis and published between 1949 and 1957. The stated purpose of this volume is to meaningfully demonstrate the vital importance of chemistry in daily life and to inspire future scientists by offering students a series of experiments that can be carried out at school or at home. By following the clear instructions provided, each student can learn “how, with a modest outlay of money for real equipment, he can perform real experiments, make his own chemicals, do the actual work that chemists do in the real world,” all while cultivating good, safe laboratory practices. It is rare to find this type of book in such good condition, and this one will make an excellent addition to the science collections housed in the Peel library. [QD 38 H39 1953]
Dr Michel Sadelain
Michel Sadelain has significantly advanced a revolutionary treatment that engages a patient’s immune cells against cancer. From his early vision, this once-unproven concept is now standard care. Sadelain earned his PhD at the U of A under famed immunologist Thomas Wegmann. After postdoctoral work at MIT and joining Memorial Sloan Kettering, Sadelain developed CAR-T cell therapy. This process genetically engineers a patient’s T cells to target tumours, offering a powerful, single-treatment option. Sadelain’s 1992 T-cell engineering paper marked the start of groundbreaking research. He led pivotal clinical trials, as did American researcher Carl June, culminating in the 2017 approval of CAR-T therapy for blood cancers in young patients. His impact as an innovator has been recognized with 79 patents and prestigious awards like the Breakthrough Prize and the Canada Gairdner International Award. Sadelain returns to Edmonton often, advising U of A researcher Michael Chu on local CAR-T cell production. He relentlessly pursues strategies to combat tumour resistance and expand CAR-T's application across diverse cancers, continuing to revolutionize immunotherapy for cancer and other diseases.
Healers of Our Age: Photography and Commentary
Acclaimed for his extraordinary talent as a portrait photographer, Yousuf Karsh (1908–2002) has taken some of the most iconic photographs of the twentieth century. His lifelong admiration for “those men and women who are devoted to the art and the science of healing” (6) inspired this collection of 12 gelatin silver prints. It features portraits of prominent scientists, physicians, and healers, with Albert Einstein (1879–1955) and Carl Jung (1875–1961) being two notable examples. Numbered 106 of only 590 copies, this signed and limited first edition contains an eight-page unstitched booklet and loose photographs, all presented in a folio-sized clamshell box. This copy features an inscription signed by Karsh in 1980 to Catherine G. Curran (1926–2007), an inscription that illuminates its interesting provenance as it once belonged to a prominent New York philanthropist and patron of the arts. [TR 681 S37 K37 1975 folio]