Honorary doctorates

Jean Bélanger is one of the province’s best-known success stories, for the way he has leveraged cutting-edge technological innovation to elevate his company, Premier Tech, to the status of Canadian economic flagship and global leader in its various fields.

Since receiving his BSc in Industrial Engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal, he has found ways throughout his 35 years at Premier Tech to keep himself constantly surrounded with talented leaders. Together, that team has developed a strong group culture in which intrapreneurship is nurtured and the desire to excel acts as a driver of Premier Tech’s steady, consistent growth. 

His career has been the object of much recognition, from 2013, when he was awarded Réseau Capital’s Prix Capital de l’année in the entrepreneur category, to 2022, when he was made a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour—France’s highest order of merit—by decree of the President of the French Republic. Most recently, in 2023 he was awarded the National Assembly Medal of Honour as an outstanding corporate builder. 

As a respected business leader, he proudly stands up for smaller cities, having shown how a business can internationalize while maintaining its regional roots and head office, in this case in Rivière-du-Loup. 

His audacity, passion, and transparency are an inspiration to business management students. But his success in business is not the whole story—his humanist values also shine forth. Besides sitting on Premier Tech’s Board of Directors, he’s a member of various other advisory boards and boards of directors, where he shares his know-how and experience. That same desire to give back to the community underlies his efforts on behalf of an array of health, education, and sports initiatives.

Université Laval  awards an Honorary Doctorate in Administration to Jean Bélanger in recognition of his success in business and commitment to building Québec’s future through unique entrepreneurial values.

Valérie Courtois is a leading figure in North America’s Indigenous-led conservation and land stewardship movement. She works to strengthen Indigenous peoples’ nationhood and create a space for reconciliation between peoples.

She holds a Bachelor of Forestry Science from Université de Moncton and specializes in Indigenous issues, forest ecology, and ecosystem-based management and planning. After graduation, she quickly rose to prominence as a forestry advisor for the Assembly of First Nations of Québec and Labrador, and then as head of the Innu Nation Environmental Guardians Program. 

She’s the founding director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative (ILI), an organization that works to expand Indigenous nations’ role in making decisions about the future of their lands, and is recognized as an inspiring leader grounded in sharing values, ideas, strategies, and knowledge.

She’s a proud member of the Ilnu community of Mashteuiatsh and is accepted as an authority on Indigenous forestry issues by government officers. Together with other Indigenous governance experts, she’s worked with dozens of First Nations across Canada to help them exercise greater leadership over the land and has helped secure federal funding for Indigenous Guardians programs and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas. 

Her career got off to an auspicious start when she received the Canadian Institute of Forestry’s James M. Kitz Award for early-career contributions to the profession. She was later awarded Standford University’s Bright Award for Environmental Sustainability as well as an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Guelph. Time magazine then included her in its Time100 Climate—the most influential leaders “driving business to real climate action.”

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate in Forestry Sciences to Valérie Courtois in recognition of her work in land stewardship and contributions to the betterment of society.

Ghislain Cyr is a groundfish fisher and sealer who has dedicated his career and civic life to the health and well-being of coastal communities and to the food security and sovereignty of the province.

For many researchers, Ghislain Cyr already has a PhD from the sea. Through the years, he’s supported research as a go-between to connect communities and researchers. He’s also helped improve data collection methods in health and social and marine sciences.

As a mentor, he worked with a social enterprise startup in Îles-de-la-Madeleine to commercialize seal harvest byproducts. In 2018 he provided the inspiration for “Mange ton Saint-Laurent!” a collective promoting foods from the St. Lawrence River.

He embodies the planetary health approach with erudition and generosity. His in-depth understanding of the oceans has been amply demonstrated—their complex effects on community health and vice versa. Having witnessed first hand the transformation of the St. Lawrence ecosystem, he sounded the alarm and fought for its protection.

He has always understood the language of nature and sought to use it wisely without overexploitation. His advocacy of a fishery that respects the environment, is sustainable for future generations, and is rooted in the culture of communities has been a key part of public debate. He’s raised awareness among decision makers and the general public of how the climate crisis is affecting the Atlantic Ocean and coastal communities.

Currently he’s involved in a Faculty of Medicine research project that looks at the effects of climate change on the mental health of Gaspé and Îles-de-la-Madeleine fishers and looks for possible ways forward.

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate in Medicine to Ghislain Cyr in recognition of his work on behalf of the food security and sovereignty of coastal communities and his vision for planetary health.

Isabelle Ferreras is recognized as a brilliant academic scholar who has powerfully influenced the scientific community. The scope and penetration of her work have made her a kind of celebrity in the field of industrial relations.

Her PhD in Sociology is from Catholic University of Louvain, where she’s now a professor, having completed her MSc at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a postdoctoral certificate at Harvard University. Today she is one of the world’s most influential researchers in the field of labour and work.

Her research has shown that capitalist firms can best be understood as a political entities and that their place in the history of democracy remains unresolved. The path forward she has suggested is called economic bicameralism. Her work has revealed the connections between firms’ democratic transition, the respect for planetary limits, and the future of political democracy.

Throughout her career she has advocated for the inclusion of workers in how firms are governed. Her work with governments, international organizations, and labour unions has had significant impacts. Recently she was appointed by the Belgian government to its High Committee for a Just Transition, whose report was then picked up by the European Union.

Her keen desire to bridge the gap between research and society has fuelled numerous workplace democracy initiatives, including Endicott and Democratizing Work, whose manifesto on May 16, 2020, brought together more than 6,000 researchers, was published in 43 newspapers, and has been translated into 27 languages.

She was elected to Belgium’s Royal Academy in 2017 and is Senior Tenured Fellow of the Belgian National Science Foundation, Senior Research Associate at Harvard University’s Center for Labor and a Just Economy, and Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence.

Her work has paved the way for a new generation of researchers to step outside the ivory tower and offer new solutions to the problem of corporate sustainability.

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate in Industrial Relations to Isabelle Ferreras in recognition of her research and influence on work and the workplace.

Filmmaker André Gladu has had a remarkable career highlighting Québec’s oral heritage and that of francophones in the Americas. He’s passionate about ethnology, using the medium of documentary film to open the world up and see how it fits together.

He attended École des beaux-arts de Montréal, studied design at the London College of Printing, and then went to Columbia University for film studies. He has produced an impressive number of ethnographic films, many of which have won awards at national and international festivals.

His best-known work, The Sound of the French People of America with codirector Michel Brault, was entered in UNESCO’s Memory of the World International Register in 2017. It’s an ethnographic work that manages to be partisan, personal, and full of joie de vivre all at once, ringing out with the voices, accents, and music of the bearers of Québécois, Acadian, Louisianais, Franco-American, Creole, and Métis tradition, bearing witness to a living memory and continent-wide presence.

Recognition for his career has not been lacking, from his 2009 induction into Ordre des francophones d’Amérique to the UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Medal and Prix du Québec’s Prix Albert-Tessier in 2018, and beyond. All honouring his contributions to Québec cinema.

His work is an outstanding legacy for future generations. He’s also credited, together with Université du Québec à Montréal, with establishing Québec’s first crop of traditional music festivals, allowing an entire generation of urban young people to reclaim their culture.

In the course of his long career, André Gladu has established numerous ties with academic and research institutions. He has spoken at many conferences in Canada and internationally. Since the 1970s he has worked closely with many of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences researchers at Université Laval’s Archives de folklore et d’ethnologie and Centre de recherche Cultures·Arts·Sociétés (CELAT). His films, often inspired by ethnological research, have drawn attention to Université Laval’s work in the field.

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate in Ethnology and Heritage to André Gladu in recognition of his outstanding career and key contributions to La Francophonie in North America.

Monique Leroux is among the pre-eminent leaders, administrators, and philanthropists of her time—an inspiration for young people. Her steady hand on the tiller and remarkable managerial skills are in a class all their own.

She graduated from Conservatoire de musique et d’Art dramatique du Québec in 1974, then in 1978 received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. She began at Ernst & Young as an auditing intern and in her 17 years there worked all the way up to partner. She then moved to the Royal Bank of Canada, followed by Quebecor.

As the first woman President and CEO of Desjardins Group, she truly left her mark on the organization. Among her achievements was the first International Summit of Cooperatives, which opened Desjardins up to the world while speeding its digital transformation by encouraging deployment on all platforms.

She continues to share her passion, dynamism, and managerial brilliance through her involvement in numerous boards of directors, including those of global organizations the likes of Bell, Couche-Tard, and Michelin.

She’s a well-known philanthropist as well, tirelessly working on behalf of young people and women in business while promoting arts and education initiatives. The sheer number of committees and foundations she’s involved in attests to a rare commitment to the common good. In 2017 she and nine other women CEOs and executives came together to launch the Canada–United States Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders, which fights to expand the place of women in business in both countries. She’s also Chair of the Board of Directors of Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec.

As a symbol of a successful, seasoned woman of business, she has received honorary doctorates from several Québec and Canadian universities. She was inducted into the Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame in 2023 and has been a Companion of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame since 2018.

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate in Administration to Monique Leroux in recognition of her outstanding managerial accomplishments and civic engagement.

Nancy Florence Savard is a Québec film producer and director who has accomplished great things in the animated film industry. Her remarkable career has been driven by a love of movies, artistry, originality, and leadership.

After completing a Bachelor of Communications at Université Laval and further studies at HEC Montréal, she launched her professional career in Montréal. Over the next 10 years she worked as a designer, journalist, director, product manager, and associate producer for various big media conglomerates before returning to Québec City in 1998 to found her own film and television production company, 10th Ave Productions.

She’s been a pioneer in computer-assisted animation, directing and coproducing the first entirely Canadian 3D animated filmto receive a theatrical release, The Legend of Sarila, in 2013, which also made her the first Canadian woman to direct a 100% Canadian 3D animated feature film. Her latest production, Katak, the Brave Beluga, was one of the most popular Canadian films of 2023. It also made a huge splash internationally and was nominated for Gala Québec Cinéma’s Prix Iris Michel Côté as the people’s choice.

Her career has also been honoured repeatedly. In 2019, she was awarded Film Producer of the Year by Association québécoise de la production médiatique. In 2022 she received the inaugural Rock Demers Award from the Montréal International Children’s Film Festival. In 2023, she was part of Le Soleil’s list of 25 Québec City people of influence.

She is deeply involved in her community and chaired the Capitale-Nationale Region Film and Television Industry Issue Table for six years. She is Chair of Conseil national de l’audiovisuel, sits on the Board of Directors of SODEC, represents the animation industry on the board ofAssociation québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM). She’s committed to the promotion of animated and children’s film and to regional production.

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate in the Art and Science of Animation to Nancy Florence Savard in recognition of her outstanding work and important influence on the Canadian film industry.

Charles E. Smith is considered a leading authority in dental medicine by his peers. In the course of his 60-year career, he has made important contributions to research in the field and influenced several generations of scientists. 

Holding a doctorate from McGill University, Charles E. Smith has made major technological discoveries that have raised Québec’s profile. Among them are new methods for studying dental enamel, key contributions to our understanding of how certain rare diseases affect dental development. 

Over the course of his career, Professor Smith has also distinguished himself with his expertise in a number of fields, including cell biology and anatomy. One of his findings relates to the bones that act as fertility regulators.

His research contributions led to him being made a fellow of the Medical Research Council of Québec (today’s Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé) and the Medical Research Council of Canada (today’s Canadian Institutes of Health Research). In 1976, he received an award from the Canadian Dental Research Association as well as McGill University’s Howard S. Katz Excellence in Teaching Award. He’s also been a visiting scientist at the Forsyth Institute in Boston and at the University of Michigan, two world-renowned institutions.

Professor Smith trained most of today’s leaders in dental medicine. He has contributed to numerous books in basic science that have been used to train thousands of students. To this day, he continues to give generously of his time to support young scientists in the field. 

Professor Smith is recognized for his outstanding work and has published close to 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles, which have been cited 7,500 times. Throughout his prolific career, he has emphasized multidisciplinarity, internationalization, innovation, collaboration, mentorship, and teaching and research excellence.

Université Laval awards to Charles E. Smith an honorary doctorate in dental medicine, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research and teaching in that field.

Jean St-Gelais is an inspiring and esteemed business leader with vast experience of financial markets. He has occupied strategic positions in the public and private sectors and thus had a hand in many of the major transformations that have made Québec what it is today.

Currently he is Chair of Beneva Group and its subsidiaries’ Boards of Directors and Board Chair of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Queen’s University and a Bachelor of Economic Science from Université Laval.

In the course of his career, he has been President and CEO of La Capitale, Agence du revenu du Québec, and Autorité des marchés financiers. He also served as Secretary General and Clerk of the Government of Québec’s Conseil exécutif and as Associate Deputy Minister of Tax Policy, Budgetary Policy and Financial Institutions. He chaired Université Laval’s Board of Directors through the critical period of the pandemic as well as the board of Investissement Québec.

His ability and vision have put him to work on such major issues as the implementation of a strategy to fight tax evasion, oil exploration on Île d’Anticosti, and the closure of the Gentilly nuclear power plant. He also helped negotiate the historic Paix des Braves agreement with the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee.

Under his leadership, key societal transformations have occurred that have benefitted everyone. And in business he was among the brokers of one of the largest corporate mergers in Canadian history, when La Capitale and SSQ Insurance joined together to form Beneva.

Jean St-Gelais’s contributions have earned him many honours, such as the Prix Hommage from Institut d’administration publique du Québec in 2015. In 2020 he was honoured for his community engagement with the City of Québec Medal in the Business category. In 2022 he was made an Officer of Ordre national du Québec and inducted into Académie des Grands Québécois by the Québec City Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a “Great Quebecer” in the business category.

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate to Jean St-Gelais in recognition of his exemplary career, his commitment to the community and his meritorious service.

Speaker, educator, peer supporter, and patient partner with research teams—Luc Vigneault has dedicated his life to fighting the stigmatization of people with mental health disorders and advocating for high-quality care.

Having dealt with schizophrenia, depression, and addiction from an early age, he has transformed his personal struggle into experiential knowledge and wisdom filled with hope and empowerment.

A Québec pioneer in mental health peer support, he contributed decisively to the acceptance and recognition of what is now considered a mental health best practice. He was the first patient partner to serve on a doctoral thesis committee, at the University of Bordeaux.

In 1998 he became the first patient partner in mental health research. As a researcher, he can provide a unique perspective based on lived experience. In the ensuing years he’s been part of dozens of research teams around the world, adding to the legitimacy of their work for the benefit of his peers. He has written books on mental health, contributing to 14 published scientific articles.

For more than two decades he has been helping prepare future mental health professionals, working with thousands of students in Québec and internationally. He is a seasoned communicator, carrying his message throughout society—to universities, clinics, and into the community. His social engagement, notably with Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse, and the World Health Organization are nothing short of remarkable.

His initiatives have twice been recognized by the National Assembly of Québec, in 2019 and 2023. He also received the 2009 Prix Hommage from Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Québec. 

Université Laval awards an Honorary Doctorate in Pharmacy to Luc Vigneault in recognition of his scientific and societal contributions to improved mental health care.