2016

Roger Clinch, BA’68

Roger Clinch is a highly recognized and respected senior executive in the private sector, has worked as an educator, principal, civil servant and management consultant, and has been a trusted mediator in labour relations.

Beginning as a teacher and then a principal, he became one of the youngest serving mayors in the province when he was elected in 1980. From there, he became a Member of Parliament for Gloucester County and served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications and Parliamentary Secretary in External Relations, and chaired the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. In 1989, Clinch became the Director of Communications, Public Affairs, Operations and Information Services at Xstrata Zinc in Bathurst and Ireland.

Over his 22-year business career, he successfully mediated numerous labour contracts for his own company and for others, and built a strong media and community strategy for the Bathurst mine.

He later served as Chief of Staff to the Premier of New Brunswick, where he was respected by elected officials, civil servants and community leaders.

“His care and compassion have led Mr. Clinch to befriend the friendless on the school ground, take up the cause of the less fortunate and the less ‘connected’ in the political realm and respect the rights and dignity of workers in good times and difficult times,” said one of his nominees, Richard Bell, Chief Justice of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada.

Clinch has always been very active in the community. He coached various hockey, baseball and volleyball teams, many of which won regional and provincial titles over the course of his 40-year coaching career, and he is a member of the Bathurst Sports Hall of Fame. He has served as a board member for NB Power and Landdrill International and served on the New Brunswick Crown Lands Task Force. He is a Paul Harris Fellow with the Rotary Club and was honorary Lt. Col. of the North-Shore Regiment (Ret.). He is currently a collaborative process management system consultant with expertise in media relations, labour relations and communications.

Stephen Ward, BA’73

Stephen Ward is a philosopher, journalist, educator and award-winning author. He is an internationally recognized media ethicist whose writings and scholarly activities have influenced the development of journalism.

He earned a BA in Philosophy from STU, an MA from the University of Toronto and a PhD from the University of Waterloo. He started as a legislative reporter for the Saint John Telegraph before moving to the Canadian Press. He has worked as a foreign reporter, war correspondent and news room manager. He covered conflicts in Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, and was often the only Canadian reporter in battle zones.

Following his career in the field, he became the first faculty member at the University of British Columbia’s School of Journalism and made media ethics his area of expertise. His book, The Invention of Journalism Ethics, is now a standard reference around the world and his recent book Global Journalism Ethics: A Global Approach is one of the first philosophical examinations of ethics for global media.

“Stephen seamlessly bridges the professional world of journalism with the academic, thanks to his rich background in both,” said Robert Cribb, an award-winning investigative reporter at the Toronto Star. “He’s been an inspiration and source of wisdom to so many journalists across North America.”

Ward, who was honoured with the President’s Award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for outstanding service to professional journalism, continues to work as a consultant for journalism associations across the globe. He is currently a distinguished lecturer in ethics at the University of British Columbia.