Dr. Mary Sun

They included Robert Belliveau (QC), Patrick Connolly, Justice Joseph Kennedy, M.A (Jan) MacDonald, Senator Douglas Roche (OC), and Dr. Mary Sun.
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Dr. Sun gave the convocation address at the morning ceremony, and Kennedy provided graduates with the afternoon address.
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Sun was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law during the morning ceremony.Born in Shanghai, she left China to escape the Civil War that led to the creation of the People's Republic of China.She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree (Honours) and Master of Arts Degree from the University of Hong Kong.In 1965 she earned a PhD in Chinese relations during the Chinese Revolution of 1911 from the University of London.She joined the Department of History at Saint Mary's as an Assistant Professor in 1969, and she was the visionary for the creation of the Asian Studies Program at the University in 1971.She was promoted Associate Professor in the fall of 1974.During her time at Saint Mary's, she served as Chair for the Committee on Asian Studies and was also an instrumental member of the International Development Studies (IDS) Committee.In 1979 she was recruited by the Canadian Department of External Affairs for the position of Sinologist at the Embassy in Beijing.She became the resident expert on China for two years while serving at the Embassy.She returned to Saint Mary's in the early 1980s and was invited by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada to sit on the China/Japan Fellowship Committee.She left the University in 1985 to join the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and subsequently the Diplomatic Corps.During her time with CIDA, she formed the first Canadian aid program for China including the creation of the Canadian-Chinese Language and Cultural Centre (CCLCC), which Saint Mary's was lead institution on this project.

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