Published on June 15, 2023
Three outstanding individuals will receive the polytechnic’s highest honour in the form of honorary degrees from NAIT on June 26 and 27 during Convocation ceremonies at the Edmonton Convention Centre. They were chosen for the contributions they make to local, national or international communities.
- Jason Gregor - sports media personality and philanthropist
- Dr. Sharla King - professor and interprofessional health-care education champion
- Hubert Lau - entrepreneur and business mentor
“Congratulations to Jason Gregor, Dr. Sharla King, and Hubert Lau on receiving honorary degrees from NAIT,” said Peter Leclaire, vice-president, academic at NAIT. “These remarkable individuals embody the spirit of excellence, dedication, and community impact. Their contributions to sports media, interprofessional health-care education, and entrepreneurship have left an indelible mark on Edmonton and beyond.”
Each honorary degree recipient will address a graduating class at the 2023 convocation ceremonies, offering inspiring advice and words of encouragement.
To arrange an opportunity to speak to any of the honourees, please contact NAIT media relations.
Honorary Degree recipient profiles
When Jason Gregor (Radio and Television – Radio ’01) decided to leave his oilfield job in the late ‘90s to pursue a career in sports radio broadcasting, he didn’t imagine he would eventually go on to be the owner, host and writer for one Edmonton’s most popular sports talk shows, all the while using his platform to raise more than $3 million for local charities.
The popularity of The Jason Gregor Show, along with other entrepreneurial pursuits, paved the way for the NAIT alumnus to create the Gregor Community Foundation, which provides a suit, shirt, tie and shoes for high school grads who can't afford it and funds an annual bursary for students in the radio stream of NAIT’s radio and television program.
Each year since 2018, a third-semester student is awarded the $1,000 Jason Gregor Radio and Television – Radio Bursary and has an opportunity to connect with the radio philanthropist for career advice and mentorship.
Jason Gregor receives an Honorary Bachelor of Technology degree. Unfortunately, he is unable to attend the ceremonies in person but will share a video message on Tuesday, June 27 at 1 pm.
Dr. Sharla King fostered unprecedented collaboration in health-care education with the development of the interprofessional, interactive student learning event Help! Save Stan.
As a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, Dr. King knows the positive impacts of collaboration when it comes to patient care, but this wasn’t always the case in the healthcare field. Noting a gap in interprofessional healthcare at the educational level, Dr. King and colleagues spearheaded an annual event that runs post-secondary healthcare students —including NAIT – spanning multiple disciplines through health team simulations and learning scenarios.
Since Help! Save Stan debuted in 2011, hundreds of health-care students have had the opportunity to use their combined skills to learn with, from and about each other, taking the experiences from the event with them into their chosen health-care professions to help improve collaboration and quality of patient care.
Dr. King will accept an Honorary Bachelor of Technology degree on Monday, June 26 at 10 am.
For Hubert Lau (Computer Systems Technology ‘91), failure is more than acceptable — it's great. Sure, it can be painful, but the lessons learned from failure are what makes success even more rewarding. This is wisdom the lifelong entrepreneur and current owner and president of TrustBIX shares with NAIT JR Shaw School of Business students through his volunteer mentorship activities.
Lau has made a point of returning to the polytechnic and has established himself as one of the school’s strongest supporters and connectors to the local business community. The Edmonton-based businessperson also supports the Chinese business community as a Board member with the China-Canada Business Association. Lau’s stories of success, and more importantly failure, are shared widely and are instrumental in supporting the local, provincial and national business community.
Hubert Lau will accept an Honorary Bachelor of Business Administration degree on Monday, June 26 at 1 pm.
More background
Quick facts
About NAIT
The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is a leading Canadian polytechnic, delivering education in science, technology and the environment; business; health and skilled trades. With over 34,000 credit and non-credit students and a 98 per cent employer satisfaction rate, NAIT grads help fuel the economic engine of the province. NAIT also contributes to Alberta's prosperity by helping businesses and communities become more competitive through industry-driven research and corporate training. Recognized as one of Alberta's top employers, NAIT provides outstanding returns on investment for its graduates, industry partners, the provincial government and the people of Alberta.
Media inquiries
Nicole Graham
NAIT Media Relations
C 780.916.8307 E media@nait.ca
Three inspiring Edmontonians to receive NAIT Honorary Degrees
Three outstanding individuals will receive the polytechnic’s highest honour in the form of honorary degrees from NAIT on June 26 and 27
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