Honorary degree citation - Kathy Reichs
By: Arvind Joshi, November 2011
Mr. Chancellor, it is my honour to present to you Dr. Kathy Reichs, forensic anthropologist and author.
Harrowing excavations, gruesome details, gripping personal dramas, serious headlines about global human tragedy, and entertainment production - all are part of a daily routine for Dr. Reichs. Anthropologist, author, television producer, Kathy Reichs makes accessible the science behind the headlines, in stories that compel, disturb, and embody a perfect mix of arts and sciences.
As a forensic anthropologist she knows well the 206 bones in the human body, using them in stories about lives lived, violent ends, and the dark experiences that sometimes take up the human spirit. She is the author of fourteen books, focussed on the work of fictional character Temperance Brennan. Like her creator, she is a forensic anthropologist, dividing her time between North Carolina and working in Montreal for the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciares et de Medicine Legale.
Reichs's first novel Déjà Dead catapulted her to fame when it became a New York Times bestseller and won the 1997 Ellis Award for Best First Novel. Temperance Brennan novels to follow have included Death du Jour, Deadly Décisions, Fatal Voyage, Grave Secrets, Bare Bones, Monday Mourning, Cross Bones, Break No Bones, Bones to Ashes, Devil Bones, 206 Bones, Spider Bones, and Flash and Bones. Dr. Reichs is also a producer of the FOX TV series, Bones, which is based on her work and her novels.
Kathy Reichs a été consultante pour le Bureau du médecin légiste en chef de l’État de la Caroline du Nord, et remplit actuellement la même fonction pour le Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale du Québec. Dans le cadre de son travail pour le Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command, elle a apporté son soutien dans l’identification de victimes de la Seconde Guerre mondiale ainsi que des conflits en Corée et en Asie du Sud-Est. En tant que membre du réseau Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team du gouvernement américain, elle a également aidé à identifier des victimes du désastre survenu au World Trade Center le 11 septembre 2001.
Dr. Reichs is one of only eighty-eight forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. She served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of both the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and is currently a member of the National Police Services Advisory Council in Canada. She is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.
Mme Reichs est née à Chicago, où elle a obtenu une maîtrise, puis un doctorat à l’Université de Northwestern. Elle partage maintenant son temps entre Charlotte, en Caroline du Nord, et Montréal, au Québec.
Mr. Chancellor, on behalf of Senate and the Board of Governors, it is my privilege and honour to present to you Dr. Kathy Reichs, so that you may confer upon her the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.
