Mitacs appoints new members to Board of Directors

Vancouver, BC – Mitacs, a national non-profit research and training organization, is pleased to welcome Professor Meric Gertler and Dr. John Milloy and as new members to the organization’s Board of Directors. Mitacs’ Board oversees the activities of the organization in its vision for a more innovative Canada.

Professor Gertler is currently serving his term as the 16^th President of the University of Toronto. Previously, he served as the Dean of the University’s largest and most diverse academic division, the Faculty of Arts & Science, a position he had held since December 1, 2008. Before becoming Dean, Professor Gertler was Vice-Dean, Graduate Education and Research in the Faculty, where he established governance mechanisms for graduate education.

Professor Gertler is internationally renowned as a distinguished scholar and is one of the world’s foremost urban theorists and policy practitioners. He is widely known as an expert on innovation, creativity, and culture as drivers of the economic dynamism of city-regions.

Dr. Milloy is currently the Co-director of the Centre for Public Ethics; Assistant Professor of Public Ethics at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary; inaugural Practitioner-in-residence in Wilfrid Laurier University’s Political Science Department; and Lecturer in the Master of Public Service program at the University of Waterloo. He served as Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener Centre from 2003 to 2014. During that period he held a number of cabinet portfolios, including Minister of Research and Innovation.

Prior to his political term, Dr. Milloy worked as Director of Public Affairs for the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), a Waterloo -based think tank. He also worked on Parliament Hill for several senior cabinet ministers, including five years in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Professor Gertler and Dr. Milloy join current Board members:

• Brad Bennett (Chair); President, McIntosh Properties Ltd.
• Marie Rajic (Vice-Chair);Director of Sustainability & Strategy, TransCanada
• Alejandro Adem; Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, Mitacs
• Sarah Bevan; President and CEO, UBS Bank (Canada)
• Philippe Gervais; Vice President, CHG Montreal, Capital Hill Group
• Nassif Ghoussoub; Director, Banff International Research Station
• Diane Gray; President and CEO, CentrePort Canada Inc.
• Ed McCauley; Vice-President (Research), University of Calgary
• Gilbert Nolasco; Consultant, Cohérence HR
• Gerry Pond; Chairman, Mariner Innovations

Quotes:

Alejandro Adem, Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, Mitacs

“We are honoured to have Professor Gertler and Dr. Milloy join Mitacs’ Board of Directors. Their contributions and insight will bring a depth of leadership, commitment, and expertise to our organization.”

Meric Gertler, President, University of Toronto

“Mitacs plays a vital role in building Canada’s capacity for industrial and social innovation, providing invaluable research support and training opportunities for many of our most talented young researchers. I am delighted to collaborate directly in the advancement of its mission.”

John Milloy, Co-Director, Centre for Public Ethics; Practitioner-in-residence, Wilfrid Laurier University

“I am delighted to be joining Mitacs, which does an extraordinary job of building partnerships between students, industry, and our academic institutions. In my former role as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities for the Province of Ontario, I had the opportunity to work closely with Mitacs and saw the important contribution it made to helping students succeed and our society become more innovative.”

Learn more:

For information about Mitacs and our programs, see mitacs.ca/newsroom.

To read the other Mitacs’ Board of Directors bios, visit: www.mitacs.ca/en/about-mitacs/leadership.

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