Directory of honorary doctorates

Sam Tsemberis, PhD, is a clinical-community psychologist who originated the Housing First model, an evidence-based program for effectively ending homelessness for individuals diagnosed with mental illness and addiction. Housing First programs have been successfully implemented across the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Professor Tsemberis has decades of experience in program operations, training, consultation, and research. He currently serves as CEO of the Pathways Housing Firs...
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Paul C. Genest has been senior vice-president of Power Corporation since 2016. From 2016 until 2020, he was senior vice-president of Power Financial. His background includes government, academia and business. He served in a number of portfolios as a deputy minister in the Ontario government, including intergovernmental affairs and francophone affairs, and as deputy minister responsible for the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games held in Toronto in 2015. He served in the federal go...
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Dr. Etches was appointed medical officer of health (MOH) for Ottawa Public Health (OPH) in April 2018, having served as deputy MOH for three years and associate MOH for five years before that. She is passionate about preventing illness and injury and working with partners across many sectors to keep people well and promote population health. She is known for fostering a culture of community and client engagement and providing information to help people navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. She is als...
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Anne McLellan, PC, OC, AOE, served four terms as the Liberal MP for Edmonton Centre, during which time she served as deputy prime minister of Canada, as well as holding various portfolios including public safety and emergency preparedness, health, justice and attorney general of Canada, and natural resources. McLellan joined Bennett Jones LLP in its Edmonton office in July 2006.  McLellan serves on the boards of Summit REIT and Invest Alberta Corporation.  Among her many community ...
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Edith Cloutier, a member of the Anicinabe First Nation, has dedicated herself to building bridges between peoples, improving the well-being of urban Indigenous peoples and advocating for the rights of First Peoples.  She holds a bachelor’s in accounting and has been director of the Val d’Or Native Friendship Centre since 1989. She is known for her warm, dynamic, solution-oriented approach. Under her direction, the centre has become a true hub offering innovative services to First Peoples. ...
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As a family physician in Montreal, Dr. Sheldon Elman saw an opportunity to complement the Canadian healthcare system. He identified the personal and systemic value in treating health issues before they became medical problems, not once diagnosed. A lifelong innovator, Dr. Elman founded Medisys Health Group in 1987. Under his leadership, Medisys became Canada’s leading national private and corporate healthcare service provider. This has established Sheldon as one of Canada’s top corporate medica...
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Dr. Jerome Bickenbach is a professor at the University of Lucerne and professor emeritus at Queen’s University. He is  co-group leader of the Disability Policy and Implementation Research unit at Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil. He has a PhD in political philosophy and a law degree, and was a practising human rights lawyer for several years. Bickenbach’s research interests include disability studies, health sciences, rehabilitation in primary care, and health systems studies focusing ...
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Under-Secretary-General Pramila Patten was appointed as the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict on April 12, 2017. Prior to this appointment and since 2003, Ms. Patten served as a member of the Committee on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). She was the chairperson of the Working Group on General Recommendation No. 30 on “Women in Conflict Prevention, Conflict and Post-Conflict situations”.She has been ...
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Julia Elvidge (BSc, BASc, ICD.D)brings 30 years of high technology business experience to her work as an adviser, board member and investor. She is the co-founder of SheBoot, a bootcamp for women entrepreneurs of scalable tech and tech-enabled businesses preparing for their first external investment, a critical period for any founder’s journey but especially difficult for women. In addition, Julia works as an advisor at Invest Ottawa and serves on the Capital Angel Network (CAN) andCentre of Ex...
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Senator Michèle Audette is a well-known Indigenous leader. Daughter of a Québécois father and an Innu mother, Michèle Audette comes from the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam in Quebec. She has played a key role in transforming the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Quebec and Canadian society since the 1990s. At only 27 years of age, she was elected president of the association Quebec Native Women. In 2004, she was appointed associate deputy minister to the Secrétariat à ...
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