Professional golfer Nick Taylor and community activist Marion Keys, both of Abbotsford, are among four people who will receive honorary degrees from University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) next week.
Keys will receive hers at the convocation ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on June 11. Taylor, who is scheduled to compete in the U.S. Open tournament in North Carolina, will appear by video during a ceremony on June 13 that begins at 9:30 a.m.
Both will receive doctor of laws honorary degrees.
Taylor is a graduate of Abbotsford’s Yale Secondary, where he and his teammates won back-to-back provincial golf championships.
He later earned a degree in economics at Washington University, where he was ranked as the world’s top amateur golfer and received the 2010 Ben Hogan Award as the best college golfer in the United States.
Taylor turned pro in 2010, shaping his game through the smaller PGA Tour Canada and Web.com Tour before earning a spot on the PGA Tour in 2014.
RELATED: Abbotsford’s Nick Taylor snakes 72-foot eagle putt to win RBC Canadian Open
Taylor has won on the PGA Tour four times — capped by a 72-foot putt for his historic win at the 2023 Canadian Open, becoming the first Canadian to win the national championship in 69 years.
He has also stepped into the role of mentor to young golfers and as ambassador to causes that are important to him.
Along with his wife, Andie, Taylor established the Nick Taylor Charity Classic golf tournament in 2017 to support UFV and local social service agencies.
To date, more than $1 million has been raised for UFV scholarships, plus the UFV Student Union Food Bank, Archway Community Services, 27blue, the Starfish Backpack program, Holmberg House, and Chilliwack Community Services.
Through the tournament, the Nick and Andie Taylor Endowment Leadership Award was established at UFV — one of the first endowed scholarships for UFV student-athletes.
Keys will receive her honorary degree in recognition of her long-time involvement in the community.
She was part of a team that led the formation of Abbotsford First Electors Society (AFES) in 2016 with the mission to involve residents in governmental processes and to support council candidates from diverse backgrounds.
In 2022, she served as president, financial agent, and campaign manager, with an election cycle that resulted in gender parity of councillors for the first time on Abbotsford city council and more diverse candidates elected. Keys has also been a board member of the Maplewood Care Society and has been an organizer for the Holmberg Memorial Golf Classic, which supports the Abbotsford Hospice and Grief Support Society.
During that time, she helped raise millions for Abbotsford Hospice to build Holmberg House.
As an active member of the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce, Keys was a key participant in a joint chamber/UFV report, The Business of Doing Good, which measured the economic impact of the not-for-profit sector in Abbotsford.
In 2022, Keys was awarded the Platinum Queen’s Jubilee medal of community service.
RELATED: Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medallion presented to 46 in Abbotsford
She was twice awarded the Paul Harris Fellow recognition for her work with Rotary International and is the recently elected president of the Abbotsford-Sumas Rotary Club.
Also receiving honorary degrees from UFV are T’ít’elem Spáth Eddie Gardner, a lifelong champion of Indigenous rights and environmental sustainability, and Michelle Frances Good, a community activist, lawyer, member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation (Saskatchewan) and author of the award-winning book Five Little Indians.
Gardner will receive a doctor of laws honorary degree on June 11 at the 9:30 a.m. ceremony, and Good will receive a doctor of letters honorary degree on June 12 at the 2:30 p.m. ceremony.
