Directory of honorary doctorates

Her outstanding achievements have brought her to Canada’s highest office and upon entering Rideau Hall, Adrienne Clarkson brought with her the values she has always defended. She takes every opportunity to promote the national identity and to foster a greater appreciation of the cultural diversity and richness of Canada. Eager to advance Canada as a “unique project”, she has set forth on a mission to help raise the awareness and appreciation of Canadians for the complex and pacifist nature of t...
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After Roger Blais earned a doctorate in economic geology at the University of Toronto in 1954, he went on to quickly achieve prominence in mining geology, developing a number of prospecting and exploration technologies. In the 1960s, he was a leader in the development of Earth sciences in Canada. In 1970, he became a professor in economic geology and the first director of research at Montreal's École polytechnique, where he was a pioneer in establishing productive partnerships between universi...
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Ryoji Noyori has spent more than 40 years in selfless devotion to science, engaged in work that has yielded substantial technical advances with highly practical implications. Two years ago he shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his accomplishments. During the 1970s, Noyori's pioneering research yielded a new molecule called BINAP, whose properties opened up new possibilities in chemistry and chemical engineering, and made existing processes more efficient. This innovation was especially w...
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Denise Verreault is a well-known figure in Quebec, as an entrepreneur and businesswoman, but also as a model for young entrepreneurs. She was born in Les Méchins, a village on the Gaspé Peninsula where Groupe Maritime Verreault still has its head office. After completing a degree in education, Verreault was gearing up for a career in teaching, but her life took an unexpected turn towards a totally different path. In 1989, when she was 24 years old, Verreault succeeded her father, then deceased...
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Shirley Greenberg has been a trail-blazer in the Canadian women's movement for most of her adult life. She helped found the Ottawa Women's Centre, from which subsequently developed the Rape Crisis Centre, the Women's Career Counselling Centre and Interval House, a refuge for battered women. She entered the University of Ottawa's law school in the 1970s, while still busy raising three children. After obtaining her law degree, Greenberg went on to create the first all-female law practice in Otta...
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In 1973, then 20-year-old André Viger was involved in a traffic accident which left him a paraplegic. Within a year, driven by his strength of character and a desire to raise his self-esteem, he was on a vigorous training program. In 1979, he won his first marathon, a success that inaugurated a highly productive athletic career, during which he won top prizes in a host of national and international competitions. At the Barcelona Para-Olympic Games in 1992, at the age of 39, Viger won the gold ...
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As president and chief executive officer of Torstar Corporation, Robert Prichard is responsible for maintaining the success of Harlequin books, an undisputed international champion in the publishing world. He is also in charge of the well-being of a major newspaper chain, which includes Canada's largest daily, the Toronto Star. Prichard is also called upon to uphold the principles of a company that fosters a host of progressive social causes. Prichard came to his current position two years ago...
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In the early 1980s, Rod Bryden travelled extensively to make presentations for potential investors in his Ottawa-based information technology firm, SHL Systemhouse Ltd. He wound up spending less time explaining the intricacies of his business than he did explaining where Ottawa was and why anyone would run a business from there. Fifteen years later, he found himself on a similar speaking circuit to drum up interest in his most recent venture, World Heart Corporation. This time, however, Ottawa...
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Fatou Sow received her baccalaureate in science and philosophy from the Université de Dakar before leaving for France to complete a doctorate in sociology. This marked the beginning of a brilliant international career, which has taken her to three continents: Africa, Europe and North America. Attached to the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Paris, Sow is among a first generation of researchers from less-developed countries who have given a voice not only to their own nati...
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John P. Nelligan was called to the bar in 1949 and became a founding partner in Nelligan Power in 1963. The firm, now Nelligan O'Brien Payne, has become renowned for the quality of its advocacy work. Much of Nelligan's experience is in insurance litigation and labour and employment law, where he has encountered all aspects of civil and commercial legal practice. His peers have acknowledged his accomplishments with various honours and distinctions. In 1972 he was named a Queen's counsel. Since ...
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