Honorary degree recipient

UNB grants honorary doctorates to deserving individuals who exemplify those values cherished by its academic community. Distinguished historian Dr. John Reid will receive an honorary doctorate of letters.

Dr. John Reid

Dr. John Reid will be awarded an honorary doctorate of letters at the 70th convocation ceremony on the Fredericton campus on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.

Dr. Reid earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Oxford, St. Catherine’s College. He crossed the Atlantic to attend Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he graduated with a master of arts. Atlantic Canada became home when Dr. Reid was awarded a PhD in history from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in 1976. This launched a career of exceptional significance to the study and understanding of Canada’s Maritime region.

The majority of Dr. Reid’s career as an academic educator and researcher was spent at Saint Mary’s University (SMU) in Halifax, NS, where he worked for some 34 years, first as an associate professor in the department of History and then as a professor until his retirement in 2019, upon which he received the designation of Professor Emeritus. At SMU, Dr. Reid was also attached to the interdisciplinary Atlantic Canada Studies program, and at Dalhousie University he has been an honorary adjunct professor in the department of History.

Widely considered to be one of UNB’s most eminent history graduates, Dr. Reid was an honorary research associate at UNB’s School of Graduate Studies from 2011 to 2020, and for the past four years, he has served as an adjunct professor at UNB’s department of History.

Dr. Reid’s research is generally regarded as having profoundly shaped our understanding of early imperial-Indigenous relations across the transborder northeast/Wabanaki territory. He has provided important insights into settler colonialism, Indigenous autonomy, settler-Indigenous interactions over time, Atlantic Canada Studies, sport history and much more. Among other prestigious awards and achievements, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013.