Alice Girard Explained

Alice Girard (1907  - January 1, 1999) was an American-born Quebecoise nurse who was made a Chevalier of the National Order of Quebec for 1994.^[1] She was a seventh child born in Connecticut to a family that originated in Quebec. They returned to Quebec when she was 11 and she decided to pursue a career rather than marriage, the two things being seen as somewhat mutually exclusive at that time. She rose to be the first French-speaking President of the Canadian Nurses Association and the first Canadian to head the International Council of Nurses.^[2] She also taught and in 1962 she became the first woman to be dean at the University of Montreal.

Honours

• Honorary degrees from universities of Toronto (1968) and Montreal (1975).
• Centennial Medal and the Florence Nightingale Medal
• Commander of the Order of St. John (1977)
• Dame Commander of the Order of Saint Lazarus (1980)
• Member of the Club of the Rector of the University of Montreal (1992)
• Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case (1994)^[3]
• Officer of the Order of Canada (1995)
• Knight of the National Order of Quebec^[4]

Notes and References

1. https://www.ordre-national.gouv.qc.ca/membres/membre.asp?id=97 Ordre national du Québec page on Alice Girard
2. Book: Christina Bates. Dianne Dodd. Nicole Rousseau. On All Frontiers: Four Centuries of Canadian Nursing. 30 April 2005. University of Ottawa Press. 978-0-7766-1667-4. 209–210.
3. Web site: Governor General Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case - Status of Women Canada . 2022-11-21 . cfc-swc.gc.ca.
4. http://bilan.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/pages/biographies/288.html Alice Girard (1907-1999) Infirmière, professeure