Grete Hale was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 2:00 p.m. ceremony on Friday, June 14, “in recognition of her unrivalled leadership in the boardrooms of Canadian business and in the social-conscious realm of the humanities”
Grete, who received her journalism degree from Carleton University in 1954, has held positions as chairman of the board of Morrison Lamothe Inc., director of Consumers Gas, and director of the North American Life Assurance Company.
Grete has received numerous honours and recognitions over her long career. These include the Order of Canada, the Senator in the Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem, the Woman of Distinction-Mayor of Ottawa’s Award for Community Service, the Ottawa-Carleton Philanthropy Award, the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation, the Queen’s Jubilee Silver Medal, the Ottawa Community Builder of the Year Award, the Scouts Canada Foundation National Salute Award, and an Honorary Degree from Algonquin College. Grete’s list of accomplishments and awards is nearly endless.
Chairing the Task Force to combine the three Ottawa nursing schools under Algonquin College, Grete was a board member of the Hospice at May Court, the founder of the Friends of the National Library of Canada, and a member of the Agricultural Food and Beverage Sectoral Advisory Group, which reported to the Minister of International Trade on the Free Trade Agreement. She was also reappointed to serve on the GATT and NAFTA negotiations.
She published a biography of her father titled “The Life and Times of Cecil Morrison: The Happy Baker of Ottawa.” She was also the first female Honorary Colonel of the Governor General’s Foot Guards, serving from 2011 to 2013. Grete has been a Director at Beechwood since 1992.