U of R to award honorary degrees to Chris Getzlaf and Ryan Getzlaf
The University of Regina will award Honorary Doctors of Laws honoris causa (LLD) to homegrown sports legends and brothers, Chris Getzlaf and Ryan Getzlaf, during the Fall 2024 Convocation on Thursday, October 17, 2024.
Chris Getzlaf played 11 seasons in the Canadian Football League, nine-and-a-half of which were with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. His outstanding CFL career included two Grey Cup Championships - 2007 and 2013 with the Riders. Born and raised in Regina, Chris has always been passionate about giving back to the province where he grew up and still lives. He was actively involved in the Red Cross’s Imagine No Bullying Campaign and ran the Getzlaf and Friends Charity Golf Tournament which raised more than $200,000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation. Chris is on the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan Roughrider Foundation, is involved in the Regina chapter of 100 Men Who Care and is an alumnus of the U of R.
Ryan Getzlaf’s exceptional hockey career includes 17 years in the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks. He retired having won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007, and two Olympic gold medals with Team Canada in 2010 in Vancouver, and in 2014 in Sochi. Getzlaf is slated to serve with Team Canada as a player relations advisor for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Among other charitable causes, Ryan is a supporter of CureDuchenne, a nonprofit focussed on finding and funding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and he created the Ducks Learn to Play program, which offers first-time hockey players the chance to get on the rink in full hockey equipment for free.
“In recognition of their outstanding accomplishments as professional athletes, but just as importantly, for their compassionate and dedicated service to community, the University of Regina is pleased to recognize Chris and Ryan with honorary degrees. This is the highest honour the University can bestow, and the Getzlaf brothers are very deserving recipients,” says U of R President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Jeff Keshen.
The recipients will be available to media for in-person interviews at our Fall Convocation Ceremony on October 17. Additional details will be provided closer to the date.
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About the University of Regina
2024 marks our 50th anniversary as an independent University (although our roots as Regina College date back more than a century!). As we celebrate our past, we work towards a future that is as limitless as the prairie horizon. We support the health and well-being of our more than 17,000 students and provide them with hands-on learning opportunities to develop career-ready graduates – more than 90,000 alumni enrich communities in Saskatchewan and around the globe. Our research enterprise has grown to 21 research centres and includes 9 Canada Research Chairs. Our campuses are on Treaties 4 and 6 - the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda peoples, and the homeland of the Michif/Métis nation. We seek to grow our relationships with Indigenous communities to build a more inclusive future.
Let’s go far, together.