Doctor of Education
(honoris causa) DEd
Alton (Al) Bigwin received the honorary degree, Doctor of Education on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 and delivered the address to the graduates of Nipissing’s Schulich School of Education, Primary/Junior division and the Aboriginal Teaching Certificate program.
Bigwin is an educator whose vast knowledge of First Nation’s education issues has been recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Education, where he worked in the latter part of his career. His work in Native education, specifically in the area of curriculum, helped build the foundation for Aboriginal education initiatives currently under way in the province. He was one of the first of Canada’s First Peoples to receive a post graduate degree, a Master’s degree in Education, from the University of Toronto.