Dr. Heather Munroe-Blum, OC, OQ, FRSC, F.ICD

Dr. Munroe-Blum has served as a distinguished science and academic leader, policy maker, and businesswoman. She is the Immediate past Chairperson of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) where she served for over a decade; Emerita Principal and Vice Chancellor (President), McGill University, the first woman to serve in the role; and prior to that, was Vice-President (Research and International Relations), University of Toronto.  

Dr. Munroe-Blum is currently Chairperson of the Gairdner Foundation; Co-founder and Co-Chair, Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation; Co-Chair, the Leader's Council of McGill's Tanenbaum Open Science Institute and Advisor to the McGill University Health Centre Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity, among others.

A recognized scholar and practitioner in the fields of psychiatric epidemiology and public policy relating to science, innovation and higher education, she has also served on the boards of a range of teaching hospitals in Toronto and Montréal and numerous national and international science networks and science policy review panels. She was a founding member of Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC), Genome Canada (Vice-Chair), the MaRS Innovation Centre in Toronto and the Quartier de l’Innovation in Montréal.

Dr. Munroe-Blum has served as a member of the Executive of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and chaired its standing advisory committee on university research; and, as Chair of Québec’s Group of Recteurs and Principals. She was a member of the U.S. National Research Council’s Panel on Research Universities reporting in to Congress; A member of the Association of American Universities (AAU); and, a member of the Board of the Centre for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences at Stanford U, among others.

Building on a career of clinical, scientific, public policy, and, research and development contributions, Dr. Munroe-Blum has also served long-standing on a wide range of not-for-profit and corporate boards, including the Royal Bank of Canada, Four Seasons Hotels, Alcan, Hydro One (Ontario), CGI Group, and domestic and international governmental advisory task forces and panels. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada, of l'Ordre National du Québec, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors, an honouree of The Canadian Public Policy Forum, and the recipient of numerous national and international honorary degrees. She was inducted into the Canadian Women’s Executive Hall of Fame. Her multifaceted career epitomizes dedication, excellence and impact in trailblazing leadership.