Distinguished retired Carleton employee Donald McEown will be awarded the degree of Master of Arts, honoris causa, at the 2:00 p.m. ceremony on Saturday, November 13, “in recognition of long-standing and devoted service to Carleton University.”
Mr. McEown came to Carleton in 1963 to work as the administrative assistant to the Bursar. Over the next 35 years, he worked for six presidents, served six chancellors and 15 chairs of the Board of Governors and held numerous positions including, executive assistant to the President and Secretary of the Board of Governors. When he retired in 1998, he was named Secretary Emeritus of the Board of Governors. In 2004, the university bestowed on Mr. McEown the Founders Award, Carleton’s highest non-academic honour, for his significant contribution to the advancement of the university. He is the co-author, with history Professor Emeritus Blair Neatby, of Creating Carleton: The Shaping of a University, published in 2002. Mr. McEown served in the Royal Canadian Artillery achieving the rank of Major. He received the Canadian Forces Decoration in 1976. He was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee medal in 2003.
He is Secretary Emeritus of the Board of Governors of Unitarian House of Ottawa.