Accelerate 2024

Philip Landon is interim president and CEO at Universities Canada. He has served in a number of roles over his ten years at the association, most recently as chief operating officer, responsible for the association’s strategic planning and implementation.

Philip brings over 30 years’ experience in the higher education, international development, and not-for-profit sectors. His work has focused on shaping organizations and partnerships to deliver programs and initiatives that create and share knowledge to improve lives.

Graham Carr is president and vice-chancellor of Concordia University. Ranked as the top North American university under 50 years old, Concordia has two Montreal campuses that are home to more than 50,000 students from more than 150 countries.

Graham’s previous leadership positions at Concordia include provost and vice-president, academic affairs; vice-president, research and graduate studies; and dean of graduate studies.

Born in Quebec, Graham earned his PhD from the University of Maine and is a professor in the department of history. His research focuses on Cold War cultural history.

Graham sits on the steering committee of Montreal Climate Partnership (Partenariat climat Montréal) and currently serves on the board of U SPORTS, the national brand for university sports in Canada. He previously served on the board of the board of directors of Centraide (United Way) of Greated Montreal, the Leadership Council for Digital Infrastructure, as president of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, as chair of the Canada-US Fulbright selection committee, and for many years on the National Capital Commission’s Advisory Committee for Communications, Marketing and Programming.

Mark is the chief AI officer at Western University and a full professor in the department of computer science with cross-appointments in five other departments, The Rotman Institute of Philosophy, and The Western Institute for Neuroscience. He is also a faculty affiliate of Toronto’s Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Mark has previously served as the vice-president (research) at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research(CIFAR), and chief digital information officer, special advisor to the president and associate vice-president (research) at Western. Mark is the past chair of Compute Ontario and serves on a number of other boards.

Julie Hussin is an associate academic member at Mila and an IVADO associate professor at the department of medicine at the Université de Montréal.

Dr. Hussin’s academic background is in computational biology, with a strong interest in population genetics, biomedical research and deep learning methods. She is dedicated to promoting fair, safe, and transparent AI in health research and strives for inclusivity and representation to ensure her work benefits all segments of the population. Her work also focuses on interpretability, generalizability, and fairness of machine learning algorithms in health research.

Professor Ojo’s research is primarily in the area of digital government. He studies how digital and data technologies can be used to support innovation in government institutions and address societal challenges. He is keen on understanding the conditions and technical design requirements for the beneficial and ethical use of data-driven innovation, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence-based solutions in different public service and policy contexts.

Joy Johnson became the 10^th president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University in 2020 and is also a professor in its faculty of health sciences.

As president, Joy is committed to enhancing student learning experiences, working towards Indigenous reconciliation and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion across the university.

Prior to her appointment as president, Joy served as Simon Fraser University’s vice-president, research and international from 2014 to 2020 where she oversaw the evolution of cutting-edge research, innovation and international engagement across eight faculties. Under her leadership, SFU’s research income grew from $103 million in 2014 to $161 million in 2020—the fastest growth of any Canadian university. Other major accomplishments include launching a groundbreaking big data initiative, hosting one of Canada’s largest supercomputers and establishing a university-wide innovation strategy.

Joy has had a distinguished career in academics and research. She completed her PhD in nursing at the University of Alberta and joined The University of British Columbia as a professor in the School of Nursing. Her commitment to research led her to the role of scientific director with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health, where she is credited for shaping the Canadian research landscape to ensure gender is considered in health research.

Joy is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and has co-authored more than 180 peer-reviewed articles.

Professor Johnson is a director on the board of Universities Canada.

Dr. Katherine Frohlich has been appointed scientific director of the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health for a term of four years, effective September 1, 2023.

Dr. Frohlich is a professor of health promotion at Université de Montréal’s department of social and preventive medicine and school of public health, as well as an associate researcher at the Université de Montréal-affiliated Centre for Research in Public Health. Funded for over 20 years by both CIHR and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Dr. Frohlich is an interdisciplinary scholar who seeks to better understand and reduce social inequities in health for young people in cities.

Her work straddles the fields of health promotion, social epidemiology, sociology of health and health geography. Dr. Frohlich co-holds the Myriagone McConnell-Université de Montréal Chair on Youth Knowledge Mobilization with colleagues from Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Arts and Science. She also directs a large-scale population-health intervention research program called Levelling the Playing Fields. This program focuses on the interplay between urban planning and health promotion to provide better opportunities for children and young people to play freely outdoors, increase their independent mobility, use of active transportation and better access urban spaces.

Darryl Galusha is a highly accomplished healthcare executive with a proven track record of operational success in both acute and long-term care sectors. With over two decades of international experience as a Registered Nurse, Darryl has made significant contributions to the advancement of First Nation Health Service delivery and has been instrumental in shaping health service delivery in various communities.

One of Darryl’s notable achievements includes the utilization of Nurse Practitioners in the Emergency Room to alleviate the potential of ER closures. Recognizing the importance of efficient healthcare services, Darryl championed the integration of Nurse Practitioners in the Emergency Room, ensuring timely and quality care for patients and preventing the closure of emergency departments. This initiative has been widely recognized and has contributed to improved healthcare outcomes in the communities he has served. Darryl oversaw the completion of a 21 million dollar ER expansion in the Geraldton District Hospital during the Covid pandemic.

Dr. Luigi Lepanto is head of professional services in the medical and academic affairs department at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM). He is also a full clinical professor in the Department of Radiology, Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine. He has a secondary affiliation with the Department of Healthcare Administration, Evaluation and Policy at the École de Santé publique de l’Université de Montréal (ESPUM), where he directs the Master’s program in health technology assessment. Dr. Lepanto is interested in how new diagnostic and therapeutic technologies are impacting care trajectories, how information technologies are being applied in healthcare, and how complex interventions are made possible by combining new technologies with new processes in care delivery. His approach focuses on evaluating and analyzing field data to promote and facilitate innovation in the healthcare system.

Dr. Paul Mazerolle is the 19^th president and vice-chancellor of the University of New Brunswick.

Prior to his appointment in July 2019, Dr. Mazerolle was previously the pro vice chancellor (arts, education and law, 2009-2019), campus provost for Mount Gravatt campus (2009-2019), director of the Violence Research and Prevention program (2006-2019), and director of the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance (2007-2009) at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. He was also director of Research and Prevention at the Queensland Crime and Misconduct Commission (2002-2005) and head of the criminology program at the University of Queensland (2000-2006).

Dr. Mazerolle received his bachelor of arts degree in sociology from the University of New Brunswick (1989), his master of science in criminal justice from Northeastern University (1990), and his PhD in criminology from the University of Maryland at College Park (1995).

Dr. Mazerolle has led and participated in several major initiatives. While at Griffith, he chaired the university-wide Safe Campus Taskforce and chaired the sub-committee on Changing Attitudes and Behaviour regarding Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault. Since 2014, Dr. Mazerolle led and chaired the Griffith Integrity 20 program.

Dr. Mazerolle was a member of the Premier’s Youth Violence Taskforce and the Seniors Taskforce in Queensland, Australia. He was also Board Chair and Director at Open Minds, a leading non-government organization addressing mental illness and disability.

Dr. Mazerolle is a past editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology and is the founding co-editor (with Tara McGee) of the Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology.

An active scholar in criminology, Dr. Mazerolle has led several funded research projects. His research examines processes that shape offending behaviour across the life-course. His primary focus is in building knowledge on violence to inform theories, advance understanding, and improve policy and practices to reduce or prevent violence.

Paul is a proud native of New Brunswick, having grown up in Fredericton.

Dr. Mazerolle is a director on the board of Universities Canada.

Ian Arthur is the president and COO of nidus3D, Canada’s experts in 3D construction printing. Ian and nidus3D are addressing key frictions in the building sector to address the housing and affordability crisis in Canada. nidus3D built Canada’s first residentially permitted 3D printed homes, the first two and the first three story printed structures in North America. Previously, Ian was the Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Kingston & the Islands serving in the 44th Legislature from 2018-2022. Ian studied international development and political studies at Trent University, and a master’s in public administration from Queen’s University.

With a degree in urban planning and urban economic development management from the UQAM School of Management, Laurent launched the movement that would lead to the creation of UTILE in 2013. As CEO, he heads the management team as well as human resources, public affairs and marketing. He is also the organization’s chief spokesperson. In that capacity, and as an expert on student housing and social innovation, he is often invited to be a panelist in various forums across Canada.

Recognized for his entrepreneurial skills and leadership, he also serves as steering committee member for Chantier Montréal Abordable, Chair of the Board of Chantier de l’économie sociale, and trustee of the Fiducie du Chantier de l’économie sociale, an investment fund for social enterprises

Catherine is the co-founder of CitySHAPES a national nonprofit organization working to make cities better for everyone – and a consultant working with others who share these common goals.

Catherine cares deeply about equity through affordable housing & ending homelessness, climate action, transit & active transportation, trees & greenspace, and how we build our cities so everyone can thrive in them. Catherine is a former Ottawa city Councilor. They worked at the City in senior roles prior to becoming elected in 2014.

Rhonda Lenton became York University’s eighth president and vice-chancellor on July 1, 2017.

She joined York University in 2002 as dean of the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, where she oversaw substantial enrolment and program diversification, as well as expanded experiential education and community-based learning. She went on to serve as York’s inaugural vice-provost academic from 2009 to 2012, and then as the university’s vice-president academic & provost from 2012 until April 2017.

A dedicated proponent of community engagement and innovative partnerships, Dr. Lenton played an instrumental role in the creation of the York University-TD Community Engagement Centre and in expanding York’s institutional collaborations with other postsecondary education partners.

Before joining York, Dr. Lenton was an associate dean and professor at McMaster University.  A sociologist by training, she earned her PhD from the University of Toronto in 1989. Her areas of teaching and research expertise include gender, family conflict, sexual harassment, research methods and more recently, higher education. She has published peer-reviewed book chapters and articles in a broad array of academic journals.

In addition to her roles at York, Dr. Lenton serves on the Council of Ontario Universities’ Government and Community Relations Committee and is now co-chair of the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer (ONCAT) board of directors. She previously served on the executive of the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents and represented that Council on the eCampus Ontario Board and ONCAT.

In recognition of her leadership and service as a senior executive in higher education, Dr. Lenton was named one of the top 100 most powerful women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network in 2015. In 2016, she received the Angela Hildyard Recognition Award for the continual demonstration of innovative leadership in advancing the mission of, and achieving outstanding contributions to, her institution and to higher education.

Nobody knows Ottawa better than Paul Wells. One of Canada’s leading political journalists, he has spent more than 25 years on the Hill, covering eight federal elections, four prime ministers, and a big piece of Canada’s history. Fresh, funny, and authoritative, Wells speaks in both official languages on all maters of the day, from the nation’s position in the global economy, to the inside scoop on what’s really happening inside the Parliament buildings and beyond.

For 19 years, Wells was the lead political columnist at Maclean’s magazine. Prior to this, he was the national affairs columnist at The Toronto Star and has also written for the Globe and Mail and The National Post. Wells has won three gold National Magazine Awards and a National Newspaper Award, and has filed stories from 17 countries around the world covering the war in Afghanistan, the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, and three US presidential election campaigns.

Today, Wells is a regular political commentator on both the French- and English-language CBC networks. He has also launched a subscription newsletter, which is already one of the most widely read political newsletters in Canada. In fall 2022, Wells will launch his podcast, The Paul Wells Show, in partnership with the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. He is also their inaugural journalist fellow-in-residence for the 2022-23 academic year.