Dr. Leonard H. Shebeski, honourary Doctor of Laws degree recipient, speaking from podium during Convocation ceremony held in Physical Education gymnasium. Dignitaries seated in background.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Leonard Hylary Shebeski was born in 1914 in Aubigny, Manitoba. In his early twenties, Shebeski entered into the University of Manitoba where he received his BSA (1941) and MSc (1946) degrees. His academic career was disturbed, as were so many others of his era, by the Second World War. Shebeski joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in March 1941 and in his typical manner excelled as a pilot. He was mentioned in Despatches in 1944. Shebeski was discharged (Honorable) in October 1945. He immediately returned to his academic work, studying for his Doctorate at the University of Minnesota in 1946-1947. In 1947 Dr. Shebeski accepted the University of Saskatchewan's offer of an Assistant Professorship. Within the year he was promoted to Associate Professor. He left the U of S in 1953 to take up full Professorship and to become Head of the Plant Sciences Department at the University of Manitoba. Dr. Shebeski died at Victoria, British Columbia on 3 August 2010.