Membership & member profiles
Ms. Cathy Williams (Chair) — Managing Director, Options Capital Ltd.
Cathy Williams was appointed to the Board of Governors in October 2003 and designated Board Chair in October 2007. Ms. Williams is a member of the Board’s Academic Affairs, Audit and Finance, Human Resources and Compensation, Campus Development, Governance and Nominating (Chair), and External Affairs Committees.
Ms. Williams is Managing Director, Options Capital Ltd. In 2007, she retired as the Chief Financial Officer at Shell Canada Limited, having commenced her career with Shell in 1984 as a Senior Analyst in Corporate Finance. Since then, she held several positions with Shell in Canada and in London, England, including Head of Group Central Funds for the Shell International Petroleum Company; Manager of Crude Supply and Trading; Treasurer; and, Controller for Shell Europe Oil Products. Prior to joining Shell Canada Limited, Ms. Williams was employed by Nova Corporation, and the Bank of Canada in Ottawa and Toronto. Ms. Williams’ community involvement has included membership on the Boards of Directors of Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta and the United Way of Calgary, both of which she chaired. In 2009, Ms. Cathy Williams was recognized for her outstanding success as a business professional with an honorary degree from her alma mater, the University of Western Ontario at Western’s 293rd Convocation.
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Mr. John Giesbrecht
John Giesbrecht was appointed to the Board of Governors in October 2004. He is Board Vice-Chair, a member of the Governance and Nominating Committee, and Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.
In September 2009, Mr. Giesbrecht retired as the Chief Financial Officer for the Energy Resources Conservation Board (formerly Alberta Energy and Utilities Board), a position he had held since 2002. Prior to that, Mr. Giesbrecht held various senior positions in industry. His background also includes a prior appointment as an Associate Professor of Business Administration at the University of Windsor. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds B.Sc. and MBA degrees. Mr. Giesbrecht is no stranger to Mount Royal, having served as an Executive-in-Residence in the School for Business and Entrepreneurial Studies (now the Bissett School of Business) from 2001 to 2002, and a member of the Accounting Program Advisory Committee from 2001 to 2004 (Vice-Chair in 2003 and Chair in 2004).
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Ms. Linda Black — Lawyer
Linda Black was appointed to the Board of Governors in September 2006. She Chairs the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee, and is a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and External Affairs Committee. Ms. Black represents the Board on the General Faculties Council.
Mrs. Black serves on the Law Enforcement Review Board of Alberta and the Board of Directors of the Certified Management Accountants of Alberta. Mrs. Black holds an LLB and an LLM from Dalhousie University and the University of Ottawa, respectively. She has worked in various senior executive government roles and served as the founding General Counsel at the University of Calgary.
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Ms. Marie Delorme — President, The Imagination Group
Marie Delorme was appointed to the Board of Governors in August 2007, and serves on the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee, and Chairs the Campus Development Committee.
Ms. Delorme is President of The Imagination Group, a private consulting practice working with industry, government, bands and tribal councils and specializing in Aboriginal economic and business development. She also owns imagiNATION Cards Inc. which promotes the work of Aboriginal artists. Ms. Delorme is a recipient of the 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal, the Métis Nation Entrepreneurial Leadership Award, and the Calgary Chamber of Commerce Salute to Excellence Award. She holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and has commenced PhD studies at the University of Calgary.
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Ms. Jennifer Diakiw — Vice-President, Fund Development, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Jennifer Diakiw was appointed to the Board of Governors in October 2008. Ms. Diakiw is the Vice-President, Fund Development, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Ms. Diakiw retired from the University of Calgary as the Faculty of Education’s Director of Fund Development and External Relations. Prior to joining the University of Calgary, Ms. Diakiw worked as the Donor Relations Coordinator and the Executive Assistant of the Investment Foundation at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT). She is a member of the Board's Human Resources and Compensation Committee, Academic Affairs Committee, and External Affairs Committee.
From 1991 to 1997, Ms. Diakiw worked for the Government of Alberta as the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director, Public Affairs Bureau and then as Special Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development/Minister of Labour. She served as a political volunteer on several occasions.
Ms. Diakiw is active in the community including serving as Past Chair of the Management Committee for Special Olympics Calgary, Board member of the Calgary Counselling Centre, and Incoming Board Member for Special Olympics Alberta.
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Mrs. Dawn Farrell — Chief Operating Officer, TransAlta Corporation
Dawn Farrell was appointed to the Board of Governors in October 2008. Since 2007, Mrs. Farrell is the Chief Operating Officer for TransAlta Corporation. Prior to that, she served as Executive Vice-President, Generation with BC Hydro from 2003-2007 before returning to Calgary to rejoin TransAlta Corporation. From 1985 to 2003, Mrs. Farrell held positions at a variety of levels within the TransAlta organization, including Vice-President and Executive Vice-President levels. She is a member of the Board's Human Resources and Compensation Committee, Campus Development Committee, and External Affairs Committee.
Mrs. Farrell is a former Vice-Chair and member of the Mount Royal Board of Governors (from 2000 to 2003), and a former member of the Mount Royal Foundation Board of Directors (from 2000-2003). Mrs. Farrell holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance and a Master of Arts in Economics, both from the University of Calgary.
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Dr. Kelly Hewson — Instructor, Department of English, Mount Royal University
Kelly Hewson was appointed to the Board of Governors in July 2007 as the faculty member and is a member of the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee, Audit and Finance Committee, and Campus Development Committee.
Dr. Hewson joined Mount Royal in 1993, after having worked at the Universities of Alberta, Athabasca and Calgary in a part-time capacity. During her tenure at Mount Royal, Dr. Hewson has taught postcolonial literature, film and poetry as well as basic and advanced composition in the English and Communications Departments. She helped develop curriculum for one of the first applied degrees in Communications; served on numerous Mount Royal Faculty Association and departmental committees; served as a member of Calgary’s International Wordfest Board; and chaired the judging of the Caribbean-Canadian region of the Commonwealth Writers Prize 1998-2000, a literary prize she co-organized, with Mount Royal support, in Calgary in May 2003. Dr. Hewson has presented at numerous conferences at home and abroad. Her recent work has focused on ice hockey and popular culture; the pedagogy of affect; and the image of the nation in film.
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Ms. Norma Kenward — Administrative Assistant, Office of the Dean and Associate Dean, Faculty of Health and Community Studies, Mount Royal University
Norma Kenward was appointed to the Board of Governors in August 2006 as the support staff member and is a member of the Board’s Academic Affairs Committee, Audit and Finance Committee, and Governance and Nominating Committee.
Ms. Kenward joined Mount Royal in November of 1988 as a member of the administrative team in the Department of Nursing, and in August of 2000 moved into the role of Administrative Assistant in the Office of the Dean and Associate Dean, Faculty of Health and Community Studies. Ms. Kenward was a Mount Royal Support Staff Association (MRSSA) Unit Representative for 10 years, and has served on a number of institutional and MRSSA Committees, including the MRSSA Negotiations Team, from July 1998 through June 2002.
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Mr. Bruce MacKenzie — Regional President, Alberta and the Territories, RBC Royal Bank
Bruce MacKenzie was appointed to the Board of Governors in April 2008 and is a member of the Audit and Finance Committee, Campus Development Committee, and Chair of the External Affairs Committee.
Mr. MacKenzie is the Regional President, Alberta and the Territories, responsible for the overall management of RBC Royal Bank’s financial planning, personal small business and commercial banking operations. He has held this position since August 2001. He joined the Royal Bank in 1980 and has held various positions of increasing responsibility since then.
Mr. MacKenzie is a Director of the Alberta Business Family Institute and the Alberta Bone and Joint Institute, as well as being an active supporter of the United Way and numerous other charities in various volunteer roles. Mr. MacKenzie is on the Board of Governors for the Calgary Petroleum Club and he also serves on the fundraising cabinets for Heritage Park, Bow Valley College, Reach! (Calgary Health Trust and the University of Calgary’s collaboration), and S.T.A.R.S. (Alberta’s Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service).
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Dr. David Marshall — President, Mount Royal University
Dave Marshall has been a member of the Board of Governors since his appointment as Mount Royal's 8th President on September 1, 2003. As President, Dr. Marshall serves as ex-officio member on all of the Board's Committees: Academic Affairs, Audit and Finance, Governance and Nominating, Human Resources and Compensation, Campus Development, and External Affairs.
Prior to joining Mount Royal, Dr. Marshall was President and Vice-Chancellor of Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, for 13 years, during which time he guided the institution’s transition to university status. A distinguished educator, scholar and researcher, Dr. Marshall has published extensively on the subject of leadership and administration. In his capacity as President, Dr. Marshall chairs or serves on numerous institutional committees and groups, including the Budget Advisory Committee, University Management Group, Faculty Tenure Committee and General Faculties Council.
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Mr. Travis McIntosh - President, Students' Association of Mount Royal University
Travis McIntosh was appointed to the Mount Royal Board of Governors in May of 2009 and is a member of the Audit and Finance Committee, Academic Affairs Committee, and Campus Development Committee.
Mr. McIntosh has been a student at Mount Royal for five years before being elected to the position of President for the Students’ Association of Mount Royal in the Winter 2008 by-election; he was re-elected in the Spring 2009 election and will serve out his term of office until May 15, 2010. He is currently completing the final term of his Bachelor of Applied Policy Studies Degree and hopes to pursue employment within the field of policy research and implementation focusing on public sector initiatives. Travis is currently the chair of the Calgary Student Caucus, a municipal advocacy group representing student executives and as well volunteers as the President of his condominium board.
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Mr. Bryan Pinney - National Managing Partner, Assurance and Advisory, Deloitte & Touche, LLP
Bryan Pinney was appointed to the Board of Governors in May 2009. He is a member of the Board's Audit and Finance Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee, and External Affairs Committee. Mr. Pinney is the National Managing Partner, Assurance and Advisory for Deloitte & Touche LLP, a position he has held since September 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Pinney was the Calgary Managing Partner of both Arthur Andersen (1991-2002) and Deloitte (2002-2007). Mr. Pinney served on the Board of Partners of Deloitte including serving as Chair of the Finance Committee.
Mr. Pinney has an Honors Business Administration (1975) from the Ivey School of Business, is a Chartered Accountant (1978) and a Chartered Business Valuator (1990). Mr. Pinney has just received his Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants designation (“FCA”) which is the highest honor that the provincial institutes across Canada confer on their members.
His professional involvement has included the Alberta Securities Commission Financial Advisory Committee and Task Forces on both the Alberta and Canadian Institutes of Chartered Accountants. Mr. Pinney’s recent community involvement includes the Board of Governors of the Calgary Petroleum Club (2003-2009) where he chaired various committees and the Board of Directors (including Chair) of Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta (2000-2009). In the past, he was actively involved with the United Way of Calgary, the Heritage Park Foundation, Kamp Kiwanis and the Kiwanis Club of Calgary.
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Ms. Ruth Ramsden-Wood — President, The United Way of Calgary and Area
Ruth Ramsden-Wood was appointed to the Board of Governors in October 2007 and is a member of the Academic Affairs Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee, and External Affairs Committee. She has served the community as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of Calgary and Area since 1997.
Ms. Ramsden-Wood is a member of the Homeless Foundation Board, past chair of the Southern Alberta Child and Youth Health Network, past Co-Chair of ImagineCALGARY roundtable to create a 100-year vision for Calgary and a member of the Steering Committee for the Calgary Economic Development Strategy for The City of Calgary. Ms. Ramsden-Wood holds a Master of Arts Degree from Columbia University. She was awarded the Strategic Leadership Forum’s President of the Year award in 2001, the first Honorary Bachelor for Applied Non-Profit Studies from Mount Royal College in 2002, and Calgary’s Management and Staff Team Award for outstanding employee and volunteer engagement. In 2007, she received the 2007 Woman of Vision award and the 2007 Top 100 Women in Canada award. Ms. Ruth Ramsden-Wood was the recipient of the Consumers' Choice Awards Businesswoman of the Year in 2009. Ms. Ramsden-Wood has dedicated her life to helping people reach their full potential and creating lasting change in community conditions.
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Mr. Richard Shaw — Partner, McCarthy Tetrault LLP
Richard Shaw was appointed to the Board of Governors in August 2006. He chairs the Board’s Audit and Finance Committee, is a member of the Governance and Nominating Committee, and the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.
Mr. Shaw is a partner with McCarthy Tétrault LLP specializing in corporate governance, securities and mergers and acquisitions and has been with that firm since 1971. He is a Governor of the Glenbow Museum and a board member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Chair of the Calgary Chapter of the Institute of Corporate Directors. In the past, Mr. Shaw has served as a director of Theatre Calgary and on the Fundraising Committee of Discovery House.
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