Carleton University will be awarding three honorary doctorates to members of the wider Carleton community during Convocation in June 2026.
For a list of past honorary degree recipients, please visit the Senate website.
Latha Vishnubhotla
Latha Vishnubhotla will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Engineering, honoris causa, at the 6 p.m. ceremony on Tuesday, June 9, in recognition of her distinguished career in advancing networking, security, and cloud technologies and inspiring future leaders through mentorship.
Vishnubhotla is the Chief Platform Officer at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. She leads the vision, strategy and development of GreenLake, a cloud platform supporting organizations worldwide as they transition to hybrid and multi-cloud operating models.
After earning her Master of Engineering from Carleton, Vishnubhotla built a career spanning 26 years at the forefront of global technology. She has extensive experience building and scaling platforms across networking, cloud, security and AI.
Vishnubhotla has held senior leadership roles at global technology companies, including F5 Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Cisco, Motorola and Nortel. Her work has helped advance internet, software-defined infrastructure, cybersecurity platforms and cloud services that power modern digital businesses.
A trailblazer from the start, Vishnubhotla was the first woman in her undergraduate mechanical engineering class of 1990.
Her impact has earned wide recognition. She was named a Silicon Valley Business Journal Woman of Influence and selected for the Bloomberg Tech Innovators Circle, among other honors.
Vishnubhotla mentors women in technology and serves her community as a yoga and meditation teacher. When she’s not shaping the future of technology, she is an accomplished cook who brings the same creativity and precision to her culinary pursuits as to building platforms that power the digital economy.
Kellylee Evans, B.A. (Hons) (Law), B.A. (English Literature)
Kellylee Evans will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa, at the 9 a.m. ceremony on Wednesday, June 10, in recognition of her distinguished career as a Canadian singer-songwriter, in addition to overcoming great personal adversity along the way.
Evans is a high-octane, chameleon-like performer whose natural charm and improvisational vocal style embody jazz, soul, pop and hip-hop. The distinguished Carleton alum is a Juno Award-winning artist and has been nominated for the prestigious honour four times.
She has released nine albums, toured extensively around the world, and has opened for artists as varied as John Legend, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson and Erykah Badu, captivating audiences along the way.
Previously signed to Universal Music, Evans now releases music on her own label, Enliven Media.
After a life-altering lightning strike, followed by a concussion, the mother of three was forced to halt her busy touring schedule. In the years that followed, Evans has dedicated her energy to recovery and making music. When not performing, Evans travels as a speaker, sharing her recovery journey and an inspiring message of self-care and resilience.
Bruce Lourie, Ph.D, C.M.
Bruce Lourie will be awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the noon ceremony on Thursday, June 11, in recognition of his distinguished career as a leader in environmental sustainability and an unwavering commitment to Canada’s net-zero future.
Lourie is president of the Ivey Foundation, Chair of the Transition Accelerator and Professor of Practice at McGill University, Faculty of Engineering and Design. He is active on many boards of directors and advisory boards including the Canadian Climate Institute and Clean Economy Fund. Over the past 15 years he has helped build and support Canada’s institutional capacity to create a prosperous and sustainable economy.
Lourie is among Canada’s most influential experts on sustainability and is known for his ability to rethink environmental problems and develop collaborative solutions that benefit the economy, society and the environment.
Lourie initiated the largest climate action in North America, phasing out coal-fired electricity in Ontario, and helped establish the Ontario Greenbelt, the world’s largest urban protected area. He has been instrumental in connecting environmental problems to human health and was the co-author of two books, including the international best-seller Slow Death by Rubber Duck.
He is a member of the Order of Canada (2024), was awarded a Rockefeller Bellagio Fellowship (2021), and was the recipient of York University’s top alumni distinction, the Bryden Award for Outstanding Achievement (2015). Lourie holds a Ph.D. examining the intersection of science, policy and risk.