UNB grants honorary doctorates to deserving individuals who exemplify those values cherished by its academic community. Community advocate Julie Dingwell will receive an honorary doctorate of letters.
Julie Dingwell will be awarded an honorary doctorate of letters at the 42nd Fall Convocation ceremony on the Saint John campus on Friday, Oct. 25, 2024.
Ms. Dingwell graduated with a bachelor of arts from UNB Saint John in 1990. She completed the community-based research training program at Toronto’s Wellesley Institute in 2006.
For the past 25 years, Ms. Dingwell has served as executive director of Avenue B (formerly AIDS Saint John) and is one of the province’s leading advocates for harm reduction. Her work has taken her to Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and beyond. She is chair of the Saint John Sex-Trade Action Committee, a member of the Atlantic Interdisciplinary Regional Network on Social and Behavioural Issues in Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS, and a board member for the Centre for Research, Education and Clinical Care of At-Risk Populations.
Under her leadership, Avenue B has grown from an AIDS organization addressing stigma and safer practices to southwestern New Brunswick’s main hub for harm reduction education, support and advocacy, while also addressing the community and its individuals most pressing needs.
Julie Dingwell played a pivotal role in the funding, establishment and institutionalization of methadone therapy, giving community members with addiction issues the opportunity to stabilize their lives, avoid homelessness, health risks and other issues associated with substance use. She helped establish various needle exchange projects, safe disposal policies, a parent-centered drug use prevention project and in recent years, she has worked to ensure the widespread availability of naloxone training within New Brunswick.
As a result of her humanitarianism and social justice advocacy, Ms. Dingwell has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Saint John Common Council Commendation Award, Horizon Health’s Community Health Recognition Award and the YMCA’s Red Triangle Award in 2024.