Shirley Agnos

Kristin Bourguet

Joe Donaldson

Diana Gabaldon

Four education supporters to earn honorary degrees

Four supporters of education and Northern Arizona University will receive honorary doctoral degrees during commencement ceremonies next month in Flagstaff.

Shirley Agnos, president emeritus of Arizona Town Hall; Kristin Bourguet, the 2007 Arizona Teacher of the Year; Joe Donaldson, mayor of Flagstaff; and Diana Gabaldon, best-selling author and NAU graduate, will be honored May 11 and 12 in the Walkup Skydome.

Agnos is stepping down after 44 years serving as the Arizona Town Hall's president, having organized 88 Town Halls since being named the organization's first president in 1961. Arizona Town Hall is an independent, nonprofit membership organization that identifies critical issues facing Arizona, creates the forum for education and exploration of the topic and fosters leadership development.

Arizona Town Hall was the first agency of its type in the nation.

Bourguet is a science teacher at Marana High School. In addition to teaching, she serves as the head swimming and tennis coach and professional development facilitator. A native of Tucson, Bourguet graduated from Marana High and the University of Arizona.

The Arizona Educational Foundation annually recognizes the state's Teacher of the Year and four ambassadors from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade public school teachers. Honorees are individuals who have gained the respect and admiration of students, parents and co-workers. They play an active role in their communities as well as their schools, often distinguishing themselves as leaders.

Donaldson has been Flagstaff mayor since 2000 and has been instrumental in several partnerships with NAU. He assisted the university in securing the return of the Arizona Cardinals training camp from 2006 to 2009 and worked closely with NAU on bringing the conference center with the Drury Hotel to the Flagstaff community.

Donaldson serves on the Northern Arizona Biosciences Steering Committee and initiated the Mayor's University Stakeholder's Task Force on Higher Education Restructuring in Arizona in 2004. He has received several awards during his time as mayor, including the National League of Cities Silver Executive Certificate of Achievement in Leadership in 2004.

Gabaldon, an NAU graduate with a 1973 bachelor's degree in biology and a 1978 doctorate in zoology, is the author of A Breath of Snow and Ashes, a New York Times bestseller and the latest in her Outlander series. In October, Gabaldon won a Quill Award in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror category.

Gabaldon holds three degrees in science zoology, marine biology and quantitative behavioral ecology and spent a dozen years as a university professor with an expertise in scientific computation before beginning to write fiction.

She has written scientific articles and textbooks, worked as an editor on the MacMillan Encyclopedia of Computers, founded the scientific computation journal Science Software Quarterly and has written numerous comic-book scripts for Walt Disney.