John Ralston Saul

Spring 2018 Honorary Degree Recipient

Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)

Dr. John Ralston Saul is a prolific writer, thinker, public intellectual and advocate for active and engaged citizenship. He has deeply influenced how we consider issues of history and identity. Dr. Ralston Saul has published 14 books of fiction and non-fiction alongside dozens of other essays, reports, and contributions to anthologies. He is General Editor of the Penguin Extraordinary Canadians project, served as president of PEN International from 2009 to 2015, and is the founder and Honorary Chair of French for the Future. He co-founded and now co-chairs the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, a national charity that inspires Canadians to be inclusive, embrace fresh thinking and practise active citizenship. He considers the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians to be the defining question of our time.

After completing a BA (Honours) from McGill University in 1969, Dr. Ralston Saul went on to earn a PhD in 1972 from King’s College, University of London. He has been described as a “prophet” by TIME magazine and was named one of the world’s 100 leading thinkers and visionaries by Utne Reader. He is the recipient of 19 honorary degrees from institutions across Canada and abroad, and his many honours include the Pablo Neruda International Presidential Medal of Honour, the Governor-General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the Writers’ Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award, and the World Prize of Humanism by the Ohrid Academy of Humanism in Macedonia. He has been named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres de France and a Companion of the Order of Canada.