John de Chastelain
General John de Chastelain, former ambassador and career soldier, was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 2:00 p.m. ceremony on Friday, June 16, “in recognition of an outstanding military career.”
General de Chastelain was born a British subject in Bucharest, Romania. He immigrated to Canada in 1955 and joined the Militia as a Private in the Calgary Highlanders. In 1956 he transferred to the Regular Army and in 1960 graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada with a degree in history and a commission in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
General de Chastelain rose quickly through the ranks, serving on regimental duty in Canada, Germany, and Cyprus. In 1989 he was promoted to General and was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff. Transferring to the Beserves in 1993, he was appointed Canada’s ambassador to the United States, but one year later was recalled to active duty and once again was named Chief of the Defence Staff. In 1995, he retired from his post and was appointed to the International Body on the Decommissioning of Arms in Northern Ireland. In 1997 he was asked to chair the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning in Northern Ireland. He helped forge the Belfast agreement, the blueprint for peace in Northern Ireland, signed on Good Friday 1998.
General de Chastelain and his wife Mary Ann live in Ottawa, and they have a son, a daughter, and five grandchildren.