Renowned journalist, esteemed peace activist to receive honorary doctorates

Distinguished Canadian journalist Lisa LaFlamme and internationally acclaimed human rights and peace activist Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish will be recognized with honorary doctorates at Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) fall Convocation.

The pair will be honoured at Fall convocation ceremonies Oct. 12 and 13 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.

Izzeldin will address graduates on Oct. 12 at 3:30 p.m., with LaFlamme sharing remarks on Oct. 13 at 9:30 a.m.

Below, learn more about these prominent figures and their incredible accomplishments. 

Izzeldin Abuelaish
Doctor of Laws
Honoris Causa

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Palestinian-Canadian physician and an internationally recognized human rights and peace activist. 

Born and raised in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, he was the first Palestinian doctor to practise in an Israeli hospital and went on to work in conflict-ravaged countries across the Middle East and Africa.

In 2009, Israeli tank shells killed three of Abuelaish’s daughters and his niece and destroyed their home in Gaza – a tragedy he discussed in the international bestselling Autobiography, I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity. 

When it was published in 2010, I Shall Not Hate was praised by former United States President Jimmy Carter and author, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. The book has since been published in 23 languages.

A five-time Nobel Prize nominee, Abuelaish has addressed numerous legislative bodies. They include Canada’s House of Commons, the United States Congress and the Belgian parliament.

Today, Abuelaish is a professor in the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He is also the founder of Daughters for Life (external link) , a Canadian charitable foundation that advances health and education opportunities for women and girls in the Middle East.

Lisa LaFlamme
Doctor of Laws
Honoris Causa

Lisa LaFlamme began her broadcast journalism career in 1988, covering local news in Kitchener-Waterloo before moving to CTV National News in 1997. She was the prime-time anchor of CTV News Channel, the Ottawa correspondent in CTV’s parliamentary bureau and became co-host of the morning show Canada AM in September 2001.

LaFlamme was just two days into the job on 9/11. She soon left the studio to report from New York City, the United Nations, the Pentagon, and ultimately Iraq and Afghanistan.

Over the next decade, LaFlamme went from conflict zones to disaster zones, delivering award-winning coverage of hurricanes, earthquakes and climate crises. She reported from Southeast Asia after the deadly 2005 tsunami and from Japan during its devastating nuclear emergency in 2011.

That same year, LaFlamme was named Canada’s first female anchor of a national nightly newscast, replacing longtime anchor Lloyd Robertson. As chief anchor and senior editor of CTV National News, LaFlamme led the country’s number one newscast for almost 12 years.

An officer of the Order of Canada, LaFlamme serves on the board of the Samara Centre for Democracy, is an ambassador for Plan International and volunteers with the charity Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan.

Learn more about Fall convocation ceremonies at Toronto Metropolitan University.