Roland Michener
Roland Michener, 1920 BA, 1967 LLD (Honorary), was Canada's high commissioner to India in 1967 when he was called back to Canada and appointed Canada's 20th Governor General, a post he filled with great distinction from 1967-74, serving as the country's host to more than 50 royal visitors and heads of state.Born in Lacombe, Alberta, Michener fought in World War I as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force and subsequently returned to Canada to complete his BA at the University of Alberta. He was Valedictorian of his class before proceeding to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.
Upon his return to Canada in 1924, he practised law in Toronto before being elected to the Ontario legislature in 1945. He served as an MLA until 1948 and became an MP in 1953. Michener was Speaker of the House of Commons for the five years before he left Parliament in 1962. From 1964-67, he was High Commissioner for Canada in India and the first Canadian Ambassador to Nepal.
In his later years, the charismatic Michener was a spokesman and symbol for physical fitness, influencing thousands of Canadians. In 1979, at age 80, he scaled the final 300 metres of the 2,600 metre mountain near Nordegg, Alberta that was named in his honour by Premier Peter Lougheed.
Michener was also Chancellor of Queen's University from 1974-80. Nineteen universities, including the University of Alberta in 1967, awarded him honorary degrees and numerous institutions across Canada bear his name.
Dr Michener, who passed away in 1991 was a posthumous recipient in 1995 of the University of Alberta Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award.