Canadian in his 50s decides to get a PhD. Then he wins the award for the best history dissertation.

A successful author of books on history, business, and sport has won Canada’s Distinguished Dissertation Award for 2016. “Stone of Power,” Douglas Hunter’s (York U, PhD History) study of how North America’s Indigenous people have been portrayed and their cultural history sometimes erased, was the ultimate choice of the judges. 

The 57-year-old Hunter has several writing awards to his credit and has an established career as a writer, editor, cartographer and graphic artist. He returned to do his PhD at the urging of a York University historian who would become his thesis supervisor. 

“I invited him to lecture about explorers to the New World in one of my classes”, says Carolyn Podruchny, associate professor of history at York University. “At the end of that class I was convinced he should be doing a PhD.”  

Podruchny describes him as “brilliant, funny and humble” adding that “he brings a high standard and seemingly limitless energy and curiosity to his work. His intellectual generosity with his peers was inspiring to our department.” 

His work as a journalist and author provided the organizational and research skills to complete an engaging thesis. PhD work enhanced those skills. But it provided much more.  ...