UPEI history professor named to the Order of Canada
Dr. Edward MacDonald, professor of history at UPEI, was among 78 Canadians named to the Order of Canada by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, on December 28, 2023.
The citation from the Governor General’s office says that Dr. MacDonald was appointed to the Order of Canada for “his leadership as a historian and scholar of Prince Edward Island, and for his mentorship of tomorrow’s heritage conservationists.”
A native of Newport, PEI, Dr. MacDonald, affectionately known as Dr. Ed, graduated from UPEI in 1978 with a double major in English and history and then went on to Queen’s University where he earned a Master’s degree and a PhD in history. After working at the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation for 15 years, he joined UPEI’s history department as an assistant professor in 2000. In his first year, he won the UPEI Faculty Association Merit Award for Excellence in Teaching and the UPEI Student Union’s Faculty of the Year Award.
Dr. MacDonald has won several other awards for his work, including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), Heritage Canada’s Lieutenant-Governor’s Award (2014), the Canadian Catholic Historical Association’s G. E. Clerk Award for outstanding service to the history of Catholicism in Canada (2016), the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation’s Boyde Beck Memorial Award (2018) for contributions to the preservation of Island heritage and the Award of Honour for lifetime achievement (2017), and the UPEI Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2019).
He is a prolific writer and researcher, having written, compiled, edited, or co-edited 11 books as well as over 50 scholarly articles.
Dr. Greg Keefe, interim president and vice-chancellor of UPEI, congratulated Dr. MacDonald on being named to the Order of Canada.
“The Order of Canada is one of the most prestigious awards that can be granted to a Canadian citizen,” he said. “Dr. MacDonald is very deserving of this honour. He is an excellent teacher and researcher who brings history alive for his students and to the general public in his role as a public intellectual. He has contributed a great deal to the Island and University communities.”
Dr. MacDonald said that he was very surprised—and humbled—to be named to the Order of Canada, adding that he has been extraordinarily lucky to do something that he loves in the place that he loves.
“For me, history has to be shared and communicated within and outside of the classroom if it is to do its job properly,” he said. “If I have succeeded in making history relatable to others, then I am happy.”
Dr. MacDonald and the other recipients will be formally inducted into the Order of Canada at a ceremony in Ottawa at a later date.
