Honorary Doctorate Recipient

Gen Dr. Jennie Carignan

Honorary Doctorate of Sacred Letters (2024)

General M.A.J. Carignan, CMM, MSC, MSM, CD - Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Armed Forces

A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada in Engineering, Gen Jennie Carignan was commissioned into the Canadian Military Engineers in 1990. Since then, she commanded two Combat Engineer Regiments, Royal Military College Saint-Jean and the 2^nd Canadian Division, where she led more than 10,000 soldiers and spearheaded crisis operations during the flood relief efforts in the spring of 2019 in Quebec. More recently, she led NATO Mission Iraq from November 2019 to November 2020. Gen Carignan participated in three previous expeditionary operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Golan Heights, and Afghanistan. From 2021 to 2023, Gen Carignan was appointed Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture. She was promoted to her current rank in July 2024 and appointed as Chief of the Defence Staff.

Along the way, Gen Carignan earned a Master's degree in Business Administration from Université Laval and a second Master’s degree from the United States Army Command and General Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies. She is also a graduate of the National Security Studies Programme from Canadian Forces College in Toronto.

Gen Carignan has been invested as Commander of the Order of Military Merit and is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal and the Meritorious Service Cross. She received the prestigious Gloire de l'Escolle medal which recognizes graduates from Université Laval who have distinguished themselves professionally and in service to their communities. She was recently awarded an honorary doctorate in Business Administration from Université Laval.

Married, Gen Carignan is the mother of four children, two of whom proudly serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.

“With sincere appreciation, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Huntington University Board of Regents for presenting me with this prestigious honour. I am deeply honoured, to receive an Honorary Doctorate of Sacred Letters from one of the first post-secondary establishments in Northern Ontario which, more than 60 years later, is creating a name for itself internationally while forging strong partnerships with universities and organizations across the globe. As someone who has dedicated much of my own life to the Canadian Armed Forces, this recognition holds even greater meaning, knowing Huntington is led by Dr. Kevin McCormick, a senior and highly respected Honorary Colonel in the Canadian military, whose longstanding and substantial support has greatly benefited Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans and their families.”