April 27, 2009

Contacts:
Julie Spechler
Director, Public Affairs
954-262-5348
julies@nova.edu

Alan Hancock
Associate Director, Public Affairs
954-262-5385 Office
fhenders@nova.edu

Activist Aiding Children in War Zones to Speak at Nova Southeastern University Undergraduate Commencement

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – Internationally recognized humanitarian and children's activist Samantha Nutt, M.D., will be the speaker at Nova Southeastern University's undergraduate commencement on May 9.

The Saturday commencement will begin at 11 a.m. at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. The ceremony will be jointly held by NSU's Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship, and Fischler School of Education and Human Services and is expected to include more than 5,000 students, family members and friends.

Dr. Nutt has spent more than a decade practicing medicine and providing aid in war zones. As an activist committed to helping women and children, Nutt is the founder and executive director of War Child Canada, a charity dedicated to raising money to help children in war-torn areas around the world. She has devoted much of her life to providing humanitarian support to children and their families affected by war.

Nutt's work with War Child Canada, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has taken her to some of the world's most violent regions, including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Burundi, northern Uganda, and the Thai-Burmese border.

For her work, Nutt received Canada's "Top 40 Under 40" award and has been profiled in Time magazine. She was named one of "12 Canadians Making a Difference" by Maclean's Magazine, and is known as a role model, a leader, and a "Canadian trailblazer."

NSU will award Nutt an honorary doctorate of humane letters.