Ian Affleck, who received an honorary degree at the afternoon convocation, was honored for his exceptional contributions to the field of physics in Canada.

      Affleck graduated from Trent with a B.Sc. in 1975. He earned MA and PhD degrees from Harvard University and taught for six years at Princeton University. He returned to Canada in 1987 to join the University of British Columbia as a professor and Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. One of the best-known Canadian physicists of his generation, he has won virtually every prize available to physicists working in Canada. He collaborates with researchers at leading institutes and gives invited lectures all over the world.

      Following is an excerpt from Ian Affleck's address upon receipt of his honorary degree:

I think that, for a number of reasons, I was very fortunate to have chosen Trent. Like many students entering university, I had several different ideas about what I was doing there. On one hand, I had some vague idea that I liked theoretical physics and maybe would like to make a career out of it, although this seemed an absurdly unlikely scenario. On the other hand, I wanted to wrestle with all those important questions about the meaning of life. Finally, I clearly needed to develop as a person and enter into what I believe we used to call "meaningful relationships." Trent was the ideal place to do all of these things at once. The remarkable flexibility in choosing a program meant that there was absolutely no problem combining my various academic interests. My interests in theoretical physics were nurtured and strengthened to a remarkable extent by the dedication of various Physics and Math professors. They went out of their way to offer higher level courses than usual as well as their advice and friendship. Trent was a remarkably open and friendly community. In particular, there seemed to be no particular cliqueiness associated with students' academic programs. Most of my friends were non-science students. And speaking of meaningful relationships, one of the people I met during the first year orientation week has been my wife for the last 20 years.

      I hope that you, the members of the graduating class, had similarly positive experiences at Trent. I think that Trent has a great deal to offer, as Canada's premier small university. Its remarkable success stems from the talent, hard work and enthusiasm of its students.