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Peter and Doris Kule receive honorary Doctorates from the University on Alberta

 

On June 8, 2005 Peter and Doris Kule became the first couple to be awarded joint doctoral degrees by the University of Alberta. Long recognized as community leaders and philanthropists dedicated to supporting education, the Kules received yet another accolade for their work when they became the first joint recipients of honorary doctorates from the University of Alberta.

 

The Kules have supported education at all levels. They helped fund the “Bright Futures” stay in school program for new immigrants. They have given generously to Grant MacEwan University in Edmonton where they have supported the Ukrainian Resource and Development Centre. They funded two chairs in Eastern Christian Theology at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, the only university in Canada with an Eastern Christian Theology program. They have also supported the University of Alberta, most recently by endowing the Kule Chair in Ukrainian Ethnography. As the first holder of the Kule Chair, I am greatly indebted to the Kules for their vision and for enabling the work of the Chair and the Ukrainian Folklore Centre. Their support will help us record and preserve Ukrainian folklore and culture both in Ukraine and among Ukrainian Canadians. It will also help us disseminate the texts and other materials we collect through publications, lectures and other presentations to the public, and through the internet and public access Ukrainian folklore sites. Please see our materials at http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/~ukrfolk and http://www.arts.ualberta/uvp.

 

The Kules know the value of education from personal experience. Doris Kule was an elementary school teacher for 34 years. Born near Willingdon, Alberta, she received her training in this province and gave back to Alberta through her dedication to her students. Peter Kule is a first generation Canadian. He was born in the Rohatyn area in Western Ukraine and came to Canada in 1938. Two years later, he embarked on his chosen path in accounting. His training, combined with his abilities, helped him become very successful and to found the firm that is today known as Kingston Ross Pasnak. In 1943 Peter married Doris and they have done everything together ever since, including giving their inspirational address to the University of Alberta’s graduates at the ceremony in which they accepted their degrees. With the Kules’ interest in education and in the Ukrainian Canadian community, it is fitting that the University marked their honorary degrees by donating a book to the University’s Special Collections Library. The book is Michael Sherbinin’s The Galicians Dwelling in Canada and Their Origin.

 

Through their philanthropic efforts the Kules have sought to advance, not only education, but also the recognition of Canadian multiculturalism in general and the Ukrainian community in particular. The degrees awarded to the Kules will, as they themselves have pointed out, help further that goal by bringing recognition to the entire Ukrainian Canadian community.

 

Photo caption: Peter Kule, seated, with Doris standing in back of him, surrounded by well-wishers and friends.