MHC’s annual honorary degree going to Lorne Taylor

By Mo Cranker on June 8, 2018.

mcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker

Lorne Taylor has been a member of the Medicine Hat community for a very long time.

Today he will be awarded the 2018 honorary applied degree from Medicine Hat College during its convocation ceremony.

“I knew I had been nominated, but I never really thought about actually getting it,” said Taylor. “About a month ago I ended up getting a letter and an email saying that I would receive an honorary degree — that’s how I found out.

“It’s a real honour for me, particularly for me because I grew up in this community and went to school in this community — so it’s a real honour to be identified by your own community and recognized by it.”

The honorary degree will be added to Taylor’s undergrad, master’s and PhD from the University of Calgary.

“I went away when I was 18, got three degrees and then they kicked me out,” Taylor joked. “I stayed there for my PhD, and after that I went on to be a professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia, the Memorial University of Newfoundland and the University of Saskatchewan.

“That was for about 12 years or so, then I moved back to Medicine Hat to participate in the family business.”

Taylor will be giving a short speech at today’s ceremony, and says he will be giving his thanks to the audience.

“I just want to let people know that it really is an honour for me, and in my five minutes I hope to get that across to everyone there,” he said. “I wasn’t necessarily the ideal student during my time as one, but things worked out OK for me.

“If there’s any students that feel like they may not be the best student, I want them to know that there’s still opportunities out there for them.

“I want the students to know that everyone who is graduating has an opportunity to be a leader in the community — all of these graduates have the tools and the knowledge to be leaders.”

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