A governance expert, a labour leader, a refugee lawyer, a provincial court judge, a distinguished health professor, a medical researcher, and an ocean engineer are the latest Dal alumni to receive Canada's highest civilian honour.

Hollo Medical co-founder David Hodgson's victory brings added recognition to the startup's key innovation — a unique pocket-size asthma inhaler chamber — and provides a huge boost to the company's goal of making it accessible as quickly as possible.