Along with celebrating over 6,000 graduating students, Carleton University has also presented seven honorary degrees to recipients chosen for amazing contributions to their chosen fields and Canadian society.

Videos of the recipients delivering their graduation addresses are available below. Please select a recipient from the menu:

The Honourable Wanda Thomas Bernard, PhD, C.M., O.N.S.

Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on June 17, 2021 in recognition of her outstanding contributions to racial and cultural equality, diversity, and inclusion at all levels of Canadian society.

In November 2016, Senator Thomas Bernard became the first African Nova Scotian woman to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. She proudly holds her position in the Red Chamber representing the province of Nova Scotia and her hometown of East Preston while championing issues impacting African Canadians nationally in her work.

Senator Thomas Bernard began her career as a frontline social worker in Nova Scotia, where she founded the Association of Black Social Workers in 1979.

After earning her PhD in sociological studies from the University of Sheffield, she became a professor at the Dalhousie School of Social Work in 1990 and served as the Special Advisor on Diversity and Inclusiveness.

She was awarded the Order of Canada in 2005 and the Order of Nova Scotia in 2014.

At the time of her appointment to the Senate, she was the chair of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women. She continues to enact social justice and fight for racial justice in the Senate.

Harriet Burdett-Moulton, NWTAA, FRAIC, PhD (h.c.)

Harriet Burdett-Moulton was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on June 17, 2021 in recognition of her distinguished career in architecture, especially centred on Indigenous peoples and the Canadian Arctic.

Ms. Burdett-Moulton is from Labrador and spent her early life in a traditional nomadic lifestyle.

Ms. Burdett-Moulton was the first architect to practice in what is now Nunavut. For more than 40 years, she has had a distinguished career in architecture, especially centred on Indigenous peoples and the Canadian Arctic.

She has led more than 150 design projects across northern Canada with an emphasis on honouring Inuit heritage and culture.

In 1976 Harriet graduated from TUNS, now the Dalhousie School of Architecture, and became the first registered Indigenous female Architect in Canada in 1979.

She has received many honours in her career. In 2016, she was made a fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and is also a member of the institute’s Indigenous task force.

In 2017, she was awarded a Labradorian of Distinction medal.

In 2018, Ms. Burdett-Moulton represented Canada at the Architectural Venice Biennale as a member of the Royal Architectural Institute’s Indigenous task force.

Chantal Hébert, BA, OC

Chantal Hébert was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on June 15, 2021 in recognition of her distinguished career in journalism and political commentary.

Her insightful analysis appears regularly in a number of national media outlets, including the Toronto Star and the magazine L’Actualité. She also appears on the political panel on CBC’s The National, as well as Radio-Canada’s Les Coulisses du pouvoir on television and Tout un matin on Montreal radio.

Ms. Hébert is a graduate of Glendon College, York University. She began her career in 1975 in Toronto as a reporter for Radio-Canada, eventually moving to the parliamentary bureau. She has served as parliamentary bureau chief for both Le Devoir and La Presse.

She has written two books, including French Kiss: Stephen Harper’s Blind Date with Quebec in 2007 and The Morning After, about the 1995 Quebec referendum, in 2015.

Ms. Hébert is a Senior Fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto and holds honorary degrees from a dozen Canadian universities. In 2012, she was appointed to the Order of Canada. In 2019, her peers in the Parliamentary Press Gallery awarded her the Charles Lynch award for her longstanding coverage of national issues.

Stephen A. Jarislowsky, CC, GOQ

Stephen Jarislowsky was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on June 15, 2021 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the philanthropic sector and outstanding leadership in good business education and ethical finance.

He was born in Berlin, Germany in 1925 and immigrated to the United States in 1941. He received a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University, followed by a Master of Arts in Far Eastern Culture from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

He started Jarislowsky, Fraser Limited in June of 1955 in Montreal. For more than 60 years, he directed the growth of the company to become one of the largest and most successful investment management firms in Canada. It was sold to The Bank of Nova Scotia in 2018. He is now Chairman Emeritus and a director on the firm’s Board of Directors.

He also founded the Jarislowsky Foundation, which has greatly contributed to university research and education.The foundation has created more than 30 research chairs at

Canadian universities, including the Jarislowsky Chair in Water and Global Health at Carleton University.

Mr. Jarislowsky is a Companion of the Order of Canada and a Grand Officier de L’Ordre National du Québec.

Monique F. Leroux, C.M., O.Q., FCPA, FCA

Monique F. Leroux was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on June 15, 2021 in recognition of her accomplished leadership in the world of business and her service as an inspiring role model and mentor to subsequent generations.

Ms. Leroux is vice-chairman of Fiera Holdings Incorporated and serves as an independent board member of global companies such as Michelin, Bell/BCE, S&P Global, Couche-Tard and Lallemand Incorporated. She also chairs Michelin’s CSR Committee as well as Bell’s Corporate Governance Committee.

From 2008 to 2016, Ms. Leroux served as a Partner at Ernst and Young and Chair of the Board and Chief Executive at Desjardins Group. Following that, she was Chair of the Board of Investissement Québec.

In 2020, Ms. Leroux was appointed Chair of the Industry Strategy Council by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry of Canada. She is also vice-chairman of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM).

She is a Member of the Order of Canada, an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec, a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in France and a recipient of the Woodrow Wilson Award in the United States.

She has been awarded a Fellowship by the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec and the Institute of Corporate Directors and holds honorary doctorates from eight Canadian universities.

The Honourable Sheilah L. Martin, BCL, LLB, LLM, SJD

The Honourable Sheilah L. Martin was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on June 17, 2021 in recognition of her distinguished career in Canadian law, championing legal and judicial education, women’s rights, diversity, equality and Indigenous rights.

Justice Martin was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2017.

Born and raised in Montréal, she earned a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University in 1981. She then received a Master of Laws from the University of Alberta in 1983 and a Doctorate of Judicial Science from the University of Toronto in 1991. She was called to the Alberta Bar in 1989.

Justice Martin began her career as a researcher and law professor at the University of Calgary in 1982. She taught courses ranging from commercial transactions and feminist legal theory to advanced constitutional law. Many of her publications and judicial decisions are the subject of study in universities across the country.

Until her appointment to the bench, Justice Martin also practiced criminal, constitutional and civil litigation in Calgary.

Before her appointment to Canada’s highest court in 2017, Justice Martin served on the Court of Appeal of Alberta, the Court of Appeal for the Northwest Territories, the Court of Appeal of Nunavut, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and the Supreme Court of Yukon.

June B. Pimm, PhD, C PSYCH. ABPP School Psychology

June B. Pimm was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, on June 17, 2021 in recognition of her distinguished career in Developmental Psychology, devoted to child advocacy, with a particular focus on helping children on the autism spectrum, as well as their parents and educators.

Dr. Pimm has had a distinguished career in Developmental Psychology devoted to child advocacy. She has focused on helping children on the autism spectrum, as well as their parents and educators.

She earned the first PhD in Arts granted by Carleton in 1968; it was a PhD in Developmental Psychology.

She went on to have not one, but two notable careers. She served as a professor of pediatrics at the Miami School of Medicine and upon “retirement” joined the Ottawa Carleton District School Board as a psychologist. While there, she created the first school-based class for emotionally challenged students.

In 2008, she became the Coordinator of the Autism Initiative for the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, supervising the Autism Spectrum Team and conducting research on more than 700 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She continues to work on the Provincial Autism Initiative for the school board.

Dr. Pimm is also Adjunct Professor here at Carleton, where she teaches about autism in the Department of Psychology.