The Governor General's Academic Medal is awarded to the student graduating with the highest grade point average from a Canadian high school, college or university program. They are presented by the educational institution on behalf of the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

. These medals are not part of the

Canadian Honours System Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

. Since 2020, none of the medals have been created, and a placeholder has been located on the Governor General's website stating that the medals will be delivered sometime in the future. While consistently noting how Governor General

Mary Simon Mary Jeannie May Simon (in Inuktitut syllabics: ᒥᐊᓕ ᓴᐃᒪᓐ, iu, script=Latn, Ningiukudluk; born August 21, 1947) is a Canadian civil servant, diplomat, and former broadcaster who has served as the 30th governor general of Canada ...

holds the program in "high regard," as of December 2021, the Governor General's office said the medals would be sent in "summer 2022;" as of April 2022, the office said "fall 2022;" and, as of December 2022, the office said "in the months to come." It is unclear if the medals will ever be issued again.

History

The medals were created by

Lord Dufferin Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (21 June 182612 February 1902) was a British public servant and prominent member of Victorian society. In his youth he was a popular figure in the court of Queen Vict ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's third Governor General after Confederation in 1873.

Criteria

To maintain a spirit of universality across the country, the medals are awarded on academic marks only, regardless of the less tangible aspects of the student's life, such as good citizenship, moral behaviour and, volunteer and community work. The Chancellery of Honours administers the Governor General's Academic Medal. Canadian citizenship is not a prerequisite for the award.

Famous recipients

Famous recipients include: *

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just un ...

– Premier of Quebec and Quebec Liberal leader *

Andrée-Anne Dupuis-Bourret Andrée-Anne Dupuis-Bourret is a Canadian artist. Dupuis-Bourret has multiple exhibitions in Canada as well as internationally. She is a tenured professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Dupuis-Bourret is a recipient of the Governor ...

– French-Canadian artist *

Jean-Claude Bradley Jean-Claude Bradley was a chemist who actively promoted Open Science in chemistry, including at the White House, for which he was awarded the Blue Obelisk award in 2007. He coined the term "Open Notebook science". He died in May 2014. A memoria ...

– chemist who coined the term

Open Notebook Science Open-notebook science is the practice of making the entire primary record of a research project publicly available online as it is recorded. This involves placing the personal, or laboratory, notebook of the researcher online along with all raw and ...

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, diplomat, lawyer, and writer who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada from June 25 to November 4, 1993. Campbell is the first and so far only female p ...

– federal Progressive Conservative Leader and Prime Minister *

Robert F. Christy Robert Frederick Christy (May 14, 1916 – October 3, 2012) was a Canadian-American theoretical physicist and later astrophysicist who was one of the last surviving people to have worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. He briefly ...

– Canadian-American theoretical physicist who worked on the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

Adrienne Clarkson Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...

– journalist and Governor General of Canada *

Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...

– Premier of Saskatchewan, leader of the CCF and federal NDP *

Sylvia Fedoruk Sylvia Olga Fedoruk ( e-doruk Ukrainian: Федорук) (May 5, 1927 – September 26, 2012) was a Canadian physicist, medical physicist, curler and the 17th Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan. Life Born in Canora, Saskatchewan, the daughter ...

- Physicist,

medical physicist A medical physicist is a health professional with specialist education and training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine and competent to practice independently in one or more of the subfields (specialties) of medical physi ...

, curler and the 17th

Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan The lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan () is the Viceroy, viceregal representative in Saskatchewan of the , who Monarchy in Saskatchewan, operates distinctly within the province but is also shared equally with the Canadian federalism, ten other ...

Sylvia Hahn Sylvia Hahn (2 May 1911 – 2 January 2001) was a Canadian artist and head of the art department which is at the Royal Ontario Museum. Biography Born on May 2, 1911, in Toronto, Ontario, Sylvia Hahn was known for her uncanny mastery of many cra ...

– Canadian artist and head of the art department at the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

W. G. Hardy William George Hardy (February 3, 1895 – August 28, 1979) was a Canadian professor, writer, and ice hockey administrator. He lectured on the Classics at the University of Alberta from 1922 to 1964, and served as president of the Canadian Aut ...

– Canadian Classics professor, writer, International Ice Hockey Federation president *

Mabel Gweneth Humphreys Mabel Gweneth Humphreys was a Canadian-American mathematician and Professor of Mathematics at Randolph-Macon Women's College. The M. Gweneth Humphreys Award of the Association for Women in Mathematics was established in her honor. Education H ...

– 20th-century Canadian-American mathematician *

Rachel Marsden Rachel Marsden (born December 2, 1974) is a Canadian conservative political columnist, television commentator and university lecturer, based in Paris. She is also the CEO of Rachel Marsden Associates, a PR and media consultancy firm. As of Mar ...

– journalist, Fox News host, and internationally syndicated columnist *

Gabrielle Roy Gabrielle Roy (March 22, 1909July 13, 1983) was a Canadian author from St. Boniface, Manitoba and one of the major figures in French Canadian literature. Early life Roy was born in 1909 in Saint-Boniface (now part of Winnipeg), Manitoba, an ...

– French-Canadian author, three-time winner *

Duane Rousselle Duane Rousselle (born April 28, 1982) is a Canadian sociological theorist, Lacanian psychoanalyst, and professor of sociology. He works in several academic fields including Social Movement Studies, Lacanian Psychoanalysis, Cultural Sociology, ...

– Canadian Sociologist and Psychoanalyst *

Robert Stanfield Robert Lorne Stanfield (April 11, 1914 – December 16, 2003) was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative ...

– federal Progressive Conservative Leader and Leader of the Opposition *

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

– Prime Minister of Canada and federal Liberal Party leader *

Jesse Thistle Jesse Thistle (born 1976) is a Métis-Cree author and assistant professor in the Department of Humanities at York University in Toronto. He is the author of the internationally best-selling memoir, '' From the Ashes.'' He is a PhD candidate in th ...

- Author and Assistant Professor *

Paul Vermeersch Paul Joseph Vermeerschis a Canadian poet. His first collection, ''Burn'' (2000), was a finalist for the Gerald Lampert Award. His subsequent collections, ''The Fat Kid'' (2002), ''Between the Walls'' (2005), ''The Reinvention of the Human Hand'' ...

– Canadian poet

External links

Academic Medals on the Canadian Governor General's web site

References

{{Canadian Honours System Governor General's Awards

History

Criteria

Famous recipients

Categories

See also

External links

References