Dr. Margaret Gillett, honourary Doctor of Laws degree recipient, speaking from podium during Convocation held at Centennial Auditorium.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Margaret Gillett was born in 1930 in Wingham, New South Wales, Australia, and was educated at the University of Sydney, and in England and the United States. Dr. Gillett joined the Faculty of Education of McGill University in 1964 after completing a doctoral degree in International Education at Columbia University. She played a key role in developing a graduate program in feminist research and she founded the McGill Journal of Education, which she brought during her tenure as editor to an international level. One of her major interests has been the status of women and women’s history. Dr. Gillett organized the McGill Committee for Teaching and Research on Women, and has served as a member of the Senate Committee on Women and as coordinator of the Women’s Studies Minor. She published extensively while also serving on executive committees of national and international academic organizations. In 1981 Dr. Gillett published We Walked Very Warily: A History of Women at McGill and in 1986, Dear Grace: A Romance of History. In 1986 she was appointed President of the Canadian Commission of UNESCO committee on the Status of Women. Furthermore, she actively supported women's groups and organizations in the community. Dr. Gillett was appointed in 1982 by McGill University to the position of the endowed chair William C. Macdonald Professor of Education and was conferred in 1995 the honourary title of Professor Emerita. Dr. Gillett was the recipient of numerous other honours and awards, including an honourary LLD (1988), the YWCA Women of Distinction Award (1994), the Governor General's Persons Award (1996) ''for her innovative achievements and outstanding contribution to equality for women in Canadian Society," and the Royal Society of Canada's Award (2004) "for a significant contribution to furthering our understanding of issues concerning gender." Dr. Gillett died in Montreal in 2019.