Directory of honorary doctorates

Claire Deschênes is an engineer and Laval University professor who is a world renowned researcher in hydraulic turbine technology. She was awarded bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Laval University before earning a doctorate at the Institut national polytechnique in Grenoble. In 1989, she became the first female professor of engineering at Laval University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering. There she founded the Hydraulic Machines Laboratory (LAMH), today a glob...
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Throughout his extensive career in counselling, psychology and education, Jeffrey Kottler has sought to enlighten and educate both therapists and the public in order to foster mental health, creativity and understanding.  He studied at Oakland University, Harvard University, and the University of Stockholm, receiving his master’s degree in counseling at Wayne State University and his doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Virginia. Mr. Kottler has worked as a teac...
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Gisèle Lalonde graduated from the École normale at the University of Ottawa in 1951, and became a pioneer in the field of education in Francophone Ontario. Initially a teacher, she rose through the ranks to be appointed to management roles within Franco-Ontarian schools, and later to positions and committees of increasing importance, first locally and then provincially and nationally. A Franco-Ontarian high school in Orleans bears her name in recognition of her unique contribution to education ...
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As president and CEO of the National Bank of Canada since 2007, Louis Vachon is responsible for the strategies, direction and development of the bank and its affiliates. He has largely contributed to the growth of this bank, and hails from a family of successful business people. The basis for his success has been an innovative approach to building customer loyalty through communication, which is summarized in a simple yet visionary motto: one client, one bank. Before being named CEO, Louis Vac...
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Dr. Huda Akil is currently the Gardner Quarton Distinguished University Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, and Co-Director and Senior Research Professor of the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, at the University of Michigan. Throughout her brilliant career as a pioneering neuroscience researcher, Dr. Akil has contributed to our understanding of the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Dr. Akil completed her undergraduate train...
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As the daughter of Colombia’s ambassador to UNESCO, Ingrid Bétancourt grew up between Paris and Bogota. She attended the Institut d’études politiques in Paris during the 1980s before marrying and then giving birth to two children, Mélanie and Lorenzo. She returned to Colombia and was elected as a liberal parliamentarian in 1994, before becoming a senator within the new Green party she founded, Oxígeno Verde. With great courage, she ceaselessly denounced corruption and pursued her vision of soci...
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Chairman of Institut Mérieux Born in Lyon in 1938, Alain Mérieux followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were eminent researchers in the health sciences. His education in both pharmacology and business gave him the unique ability to understand the importance of higher education and research while effectively managing a range of successful foundations and companies in France and abroad. In 1963, he founded a company specializing in biodiagnostics and continued his father’s...
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A graduate of the University of Montreal and the University of London, Robert Décary practiced law in Montreal and then in Gatineau for two decades while serving in the federal public service, including as special assistant to the Secretary of State for External Affairs and as co-director of research for the Task Force on Canadian Unity (Pepin-Robarts report). During the 1980s, he provided political and legal analyses for influential Quebec newspapers Le Devoir and La Presse, as well as on tel...
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As a member of a well-known family of intellectuals who have historic ties to Laval University, Jean-Marie De Koninck first attended that institution before earning a master’s degree and doctorate from Temple University in Philadelphia. In 1972, he returned to Laval University to take up a faculty position in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, where he not only made impressive scientific contributions, but also participated in sports and social causes. His work as a professor has al...
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After receiving her doctorate in sociology from the University of Toronto in 1974, Danielle Juteau taught at the University of Ottawa, where she received the Excellence in Teaching Award and taught the first women’s studies course. As a pioneer in the now undisputed field of ethnic studies, both in Canada and internationally, she has also contributed to building knowledge about Francophone minority communities in Canada, Franco-Ontarians, Canadian pluralism and gender relations. She joined the...
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