A former Coquitlam resident who wrote a column for the Tri-City News for about a decade will be awarded with an honorary degree from Simon Fraser University (SFU) this spring.
Mary-Woo Sims is one of nine people to receive the accolade for “making lasting, transformative impacts in their respective fields,” SFU said in a recent news release.
A social justice activist and the NDP candidate for Port Moody–Westwood–Port Coquitlam in the 2006 federal election, Sims is best known for her work as the chief commissioner of the BC Human Rights Commission.
She was also a founding member of the Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW) rape crisis centre in Vancouver and helped to write early anti-sexual harassment and affirmative action policies.
Sims lived in Coquitlam for about 15 years and, during that time, she wrote an opinion column called Face to Face opposite Terry O’Neill, now a former city councillor.
Also receiving an honorary degree at the June 2025 convocation ceremony are:
- Iyál' (Vanessa) Campbell
- Squamish Elder and educator
- David Marmorek
- aquatic ecologist
- Azra Raza
- oncologist
- Ogwi’low’gwa Kim Recalma-Clutesi
- Qualicum Elder and educator
- Barry Truax
- electroacoustic and computer music pioneer
And, in October 2025, honorary degrees will be presented to the following people:
- Cindy Blackstock
- Gitxsan human rights advocate
- Francis Halzen
- physicist
- Zacharias Kunuk
- Inuk filmmaker and cultural activist
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