For Reverend Stefan Jonasson, The University of Winnipeg has been a major part of his life as a student and an alumnus.
Stefan is a three-time graduate of The University of Winnipeg. He completed his high school education at the Collegiate in 1979 and earned his BA in 1988, receiving the University of Winnipeg Gold Medal in Religion. He completed his Master of Divinity in 1997, receiving the Governor General’s Gold Medal.
His pride in his Icelandic culture and his contribution to the Icelandic community is outstanding. He is currently the minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg and serves as the editor of Lögberg-Heimskringla, an Icelandic community newspaper. His work as a journalist and historian has been instrumental in documenting and sharing the history of Icelandic immigrants.
In 2013, Stefan was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2019, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross in the Order of the Falcon, Iceland’s highest honour. Also in 2019, he was recognized by the Icelandic National League of North America with the Joan Inga Eyjolfsson Cadham Award for Literature.
Before being named to The University of Winnipeg Board of Regents, a position he held from 2015 to 2024, he served as president of the UWinnipeg Alumni Association and sat on the Alumni Council for six years.
For his steadfast dedication to The University of Winnipeg and significant contributions to both religious and journalist communities, the Alumni Association is proud to honour Reverend Stefan Jonasson with the Distinguished Alumni Award.
