Mar 5, 2021
What a difference a year makes. While the 2021 Virtual Inspiration Awards held Thursday night in the downtown Delta Hotel was a much smaller event than last year’s grand and splendid affair, it was certainly no less special.
The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health honoured Carleton University president
Benoit-Antoine Bacon,
Charlotte Smith and
Samantha Nadon for work they’re doing in the community to tackle mental health stigma and to raise awareness. Clinical neuroscience researcher
Jennifer Phillips received the Young Researcher Inspiration Award for her ongoing studies on depression and suicide prevention.
A net total of more than $415,000 was raised for patient care and mental health research at The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.
Feb 22, 0201
For students looking for inspiration, there’s arguably no academic leader more inspiring than Benoit-Antoine Bacon, president and vice-chancellor of Carleton University.
Bacon, 48, leads an active and healthy lifestyle these days, but there was a time when he turned to alcohol, drugs and suicidal ideation to escape the depression that plagued him, after growing up in a highly dysfunctional and abusive household in Quebec.
That he managed to make peace with his past, turn things around for himself and become head of such an innovative institution is a compelling comeback story. That he’s been so open and honest in sharing his experience is a courageous example of leading from the front.
Carleton U s Benoit-Antoine Bacon among mental health advocates to be honoured at Royal Ottawa Foundation s Inspiration Awards obj.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from obj.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.