A psychologist specializing in preventing adolescent violence and a health administrator who is a leader in training Franco-Ontarian health professionals are two Queen’s alumni who are among the 25 new appointments to the Order of Ontario, the province’s highest honour.
The list was released on Jan. 1, 2024, and the two alumni honoured are:
• Dr. Claire Crooks, MA’97, PHD’01: The Western University professor is a groundbreaking clinical psychologist and researcher specializing in violence prevention among adolescents. She co-developed the “Fourth R”, a relationship-based approach to reducing dating violence and delinquency among youth, a program now in use in thousands of schools throughout Canada and around the world. She has trained thousands of social workers, mental health professionals, and judges and inspired a national movement to address youth mental health.
• Bernard Leduc, MBA'10: As former president and chief operation officer of Ottawa’s Hôpital Montfort, Dr. Leduc transformed this French-language hospital into one of the country’s finest. Dr. Leduc launched the Institut du Savoir Montfort, which became a leader in training Franco-Ontarian health professionals, and he created the Aline-Chrétien Health Hub, providing innovative outpatient care. Since 2015, Montfort has been listed as one of the top 40 research hospitals in Canada, and in 2019, it entered Newsweek magazine’s list of the world’s top 1,000 hospitals.
Also on the list is Dr. Lee Errett, who graduated from Memorial University’s medical school and did his surgical training at Queen’s. As chief of cardiac surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Dr. Errett helped turn the institute into a world-class centre for cardiac surgery, teaching, and research.
“As Chancellor of the Order of Ontario, it is my privilege to congratulate the Order’s appointees. These Ontarians have demonstrated the highest levels of merit, excellence, and dedication in their respective disciplines, and they have made significant impacts here at home and around the world," Lieutenant Governor Edith Dumont said in a press release. “Our province gratefully acknowledges their remarkable contributions, which inspire us all to be leaders and change-makers.”
There have been 874 people appointed to the Order of Ontario since it was established in 1986.
