The Honourable Mayann Francis, ONS
Spring 2016 Honorary Degree Recipient
Doctor of Laws (honoris causa)
The life of the Honourable Mayann Francis is a catalogue of firsts. She was the first African Nova Scotian to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, the first employment equity officer for Â鶹´«Ã½ and the first Black woman to serve as assistant deputy minister to the Ontario Women’s Directorate. She was the first woman to hold the position of Nova Scotia provincial ombudsman and the first African Nova Scotian woman to serve as director and CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.
As Dal’s first employment equity specialist, Ms. Francis astutely managed the implementation of pioneering non-discriminatory policies and procedures. She has given more than 30 talks and workshops at or on behalf of the university and has served on the board of the Indigenous Black and Mi’kmaq Program of the Schulich School of Law. As Lieutenant Governor, she invoked royal prerogative—for the first time in Canadian history—to posthumously grant free pardon to civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond.
Originally from Whitney Pier, Nova Scotia, Ms. Francis holds a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Mary’s University and earned a Master of Arts degree in Public Administration from New York University in 1984. Her many awards include honorary degrees from York, Saint Mary’s and Mount Saint Vincent Universities, in addition to a Luminary Award from the University of West Indies. She became a member of the Order of Nova Scotia in 2006. Last fall, the Â鶹´«Ã½ School of Public Administration welcomed her as its first Distinguished Public Service Fellow.