Dean Colleen M. Flood has received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Université de Sherbrooke. The honour recognizes her internationally renowned contributions to health law and policy, which have advanced knowledge and informed public policy related to access to care and the governance of health systems.
In announcing the honorary degree, Université de Sherbrooke Rector Jean-Pierre Perreault described Flood as a pioneer in health law and policy whose research has shaped public policy and interdisciplinary scholarship in Canada and internationally. He also highlighted her longstanding commitment to training the next generation of health law scholars.
Flood accepted the honorary doctorate during Sherbrooke Law’s convocation ceremony on Sept. 18 and addressed its new graduates.
“What an enormous honour it is to receive this award from such a beautiful university and such a distinguished law school,” she said.
Flood told graduates they were entering a world that “desperately needs” them and highlighted the many ways they could use the law to help individuals, solve complex problems, defend rights, and contribute to their communities.
“Take chances. Walk through doors. And when you get inside, hold them open for somebody else,” she said, bringing members of the Class of 2026 to their feet. “Use this extraordinary education to solve hard problems, help people when they most need you, challenge injustice, build things, laugh often, love deeply — and make this complicated, beautiful, gosh-darn world a way, way better place for all of us.”
Appointed Dean of Queen’s Law in 2023, Flood is recognized as one of Canada’s leading health law and policy scholars. Her research has influenced Canadian and international debates on healthcare governance, access to care, public health, and health-related artificial intelligence.
Queen’s Law and the Université de Sherbrooke have a longstanding partnership that allows graduates from each institution to earn a second law degree through a one-year exchange program. Queen’s JD graduates who are fluent in French may study at Sherbrooke to obtain a civil law degree, while Sherbrooke graduates may study at Queen’s to earn a common law degree.