Moulay Hafid Elalamy Receives Honorary Doctorate From University of Sherbrooke

Wednesday 23 September 2026 - 00:15

The University of Sherbrooke in Quebec has awarded an honorary doctorate to Moroccan businessman and former Industry and Commerce Minister Moulay Hafid Elalamy, recognizing a career that has remained closely connected to the Canadian institution where he began his higher education.

The distinction was presented during an official graduation ceremony on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Faculty members, institutional representatives and newly graduated students attended the event, which also included an exchange with Moroccan graduates of the university’s Centre universitaire de formation en environnement et développement durable (CUFE).

For Elalamy, the ceremony represented a return to a place that played an important role in the early stages of his professional development.

From computer science student to business leader

More than four decades ago, Elalamy arrived in Sherbrooke to study computer science, a field that was still developing at the time. During his address, he recalled the influence of his professors, his first Canadian employers and his family environment.

He presented professional success as the result of a broader support system rather than an exclusively individual achievement. The academic experience, professional opportunities and guidance he received in Canada, he explained, helped shape the principles that would later influence his career.

His trajectory subsequently took him through three distinct stages: employment, entrepreneurship and public service.

Trust as a foundation for professional life

A central theme of Elalamy’s speech was the importance of trust in building sustainable professional relationships.

He linked trust to consistency between words and actions, describing this principle as one of the lessons reinforced during his years in Quebec.

After returning to Morocco in 1988, Elalamy went on to lead major financial and industrial groups before establishing his own businesses. He later entered government, where his responsibilities included contributing to Morocco’s industrial policy.

He described his involvement in public policy as one of the most significant chapters of his professional journey.

Advice for a new generation of graduates

Addressing the graduating class, Elalamy encouraged students to view their degrees as the beginning of a learning process rather than its conclusion.

He urged them to develop the ability to learn from setbacks and to maintain a long-term capacity for adaptation. Among the personal qualities he highlighted were keeping one's word, listening carefully and expressing firmly held convictions.

His message placed equal emphasis on professional expertise and interpersonal values, presenting both as important elements in building lasting careers.

Leadership measured by collective progress

Elalamy also outlined his approach to leadership, arguing that effective governance should not be measured primarily by the visibility or personal influence of a leader.

Instead, he emphasized the leader’s ability to help colleagues develop their skills and advance collectively.

The honorary doctorate therefore carries significance beyond a formal academic distinction. More than forty years after beginning his studies in Sherbrooke, Elalamy returned to the university to receive recognition for a career spanning business, entrepreneurship and public service in Morocco.