2005 Fredericton Encaenia - Ceremony C
Roberts, Willis F.
Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
Orator: Turner, R. Steven
Citation:
ENCAENIA, MAY, 2005
WILLIS FOWLER ROBERTS
to be Doctor of Science
At this Encaenia ceremony we honour two Fredericton natives, both octogenarians, whose knowledge in youth and wisdom in age have contributed significantly to public service and to business in Canada.
The first of these is Willis Roberts, the visionary surveyor whose enormous energy and tenacity over many years gave New Brunswick and the Maritimes and land registration and management system that is the envy of the world.
Willis Roberts began his professional life as a forester, graduating from UNB in 1940. Following distinguished military service in the Second World War, he returned to New Brunswick and was shortly after licensed as a deputy land surveyor. At the time, the tools of his trade had changed little over the past 200 years, and it was not long before he set to work not only to modernize surveying techniques but to revolutionize the system of land registration.
Two decades before the “information highway” became a catch phrase, Willis Roberts recognized the power of a computer-based system for the management of all land-related data. As a Registered Forester, having already founded and chartered the Association of New Brunswick Land Surveyors and the Fredericton Branch of the Canadian Institute of Surveying, he used his considerable network of colleagues and contacts to influence, persuade and lead the Atlantic Development Board and later the Council of Maritime Premiers to support the survey control, topographic mapping and property mapping needed for a modern land information system in the region.
The importance of this development cannot be overestimated. Reliable, accessible and complete land information is fundamental to property conveyance, resource management, land administration and environmental conservation. Indeed, had Willis Roberts not pressed tirelessly for the implementation of this new model, it is unlikely this region would have the quality of infrastructure or the opportunity for development that exists today. As Executive Director of the Land Registration and Information Service and then President of LRIS International, he oversaw the transformation of the surveying and mapping that undergirds our economy.
In 1983, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society hailed Willis Roberts as a successor to Samuel de Champlain, geographer to the King of France, and awarded him its highest honour, the Massey Medal, for outstanding personal achievement in the exploration or description of the geography of Canada. This was but the first several accolade to come his way over the course of his career.
Willis Roberts also understood that progress is based in education, and played a key role in the late 1950s and early ‘60s in the creation of a Department of Surveying Engineering at UNB Fredericton. Now known as Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, this world renowned program has graduated more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduated students, including 25 here today.
He continues to be an active and supportive alumnus, as ell as an avid Varsity Reds hockey fan. His family, too, are an important part of life and we join them today in celebrating Willis Roberts as a genuine pioneer and public sector entrepreneur.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 4
WILLIS FOWLER ROBERTS
to be Doctor of Science
At this Encaenia ceremony we honour two Fredericton natives, both octogenarians, whose knowledge in youth and wisdom in age have contributed significantly to public service and to business in Canada.
The first of these is Willis Roberts, the visionary surveyor whose enormous energy and tenacity over many years gave New Brunswick and the Maritimes and land registration and management system that is the envy of the world.
Willis Roberts began his professional life as a forester, graduating from UNB in 1940. Following distinguished military service in the Second World War, he returned to New Brunswick and was shortly after licensed as a deputy land surveyor. At the time, the tools of his trade had changed little over the past 200 years, and it was not long before he set to work not only to modernize surveying techniques but to revolutionize the system of land registration.
Two decades before the “information highway” became a catch phrase, Willis Roberts recognized the power of a computer-based system for the management of all land-related data. As a Registered Forester, having already founded and chartered the Association of New Brunswick Land Surveyors and the Fredericton Branch of the Canadian Institute of Surveying, he used his considerable network of colleagues and contacts to influence, persuade and lead the Atlantic Development Board and later the Council of Maritime Premiers to support the survey control, topographic mapping and property mapping needed for a modern land information system in the region.
The importance of this development cannot be overestimated. Reliable, accessible and complete land information is fundamental to property conveyance, resource management, land administration and environmental conservation. Indeed, had Willis Roberts not pressed tirelessly for the implementation of this new model, it is unlikely this region would have the quality of infrastructure or the opportunity for development that exists today. As Executive Director of the Land Registration and Information Service and then President of LRIS International, he oversaw the transformation of the surveying and mapping that undergirds our economy.
In 1983, the Royal Canadian Geographic Society hailed Willis Roberts as a successor to Samuel de Champlain, geographer to the King of France, and awarded him its highest honour, the Massey Medal, for outstanding personal achievement in the exploration or description of the geography of Canada. This was but the first several accolade to come his way over the course of his career.
Willis Roberts also understood that progress is based in education, and played a key role in the late 1950s and early ‘60s in the creation of a Department of Surveying Engineering at UNB Fredericton. Now known as Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering, this world renowned program has graduated more than 1,000 undergraduate and graduated students, including 25 here today.
He continues to be an active and supportive alumnus, as ell as an avid Varsity Reds hockey fan. His family, too, are an important part of life and we join them today in celebrating Willis Roberts as a genuine pioneer and public sector entrepreneur.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 4
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