M. Elizabeth Cannon

Dr. Elizabeth Cannon is president emerita of the University of Calgary after serving as president and vice chancellor from 2010 to 2018. A champion for advancing the mission of the university and fostering excellence in higher education, she led the development of the university’s transformational Eyes High strategy and its $1.3 billion Energize campaign through a focus on impact and a strong institutional culture. Before her presidency, she was dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary.

Elizabeth is an internationally recognized researcher of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) in both industrial and academic environments and has commercialized technology to more than 200 agencies worldwide. Currently, she is a speaker on leadership, strategy, and innovation, as well as author of the book Enhancing Your Higher Education Presidency: Fifteen Lessons on Leadership and co-author of the Strategic University Management: Future Proofing Your Institution. She is an active seed-stage investor and mentor, particularly for female-founded companies, and serves on numerous non-profit and corporate boards.

Elizabeth is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Academy of Engineering as well as an elected foreign associate of the National Academy of Engineering. She served as co-chair of the Business-Higher Education Roundtable, was a past chair of Universities Canada, and was a member of the federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC) in addition to many other boards and advisory councils. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University, a Fellow of the Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies and a Director of the Gairdner Foundation. Elizabeth has received more than 80 teaching, research, and leadership awards including the Johannes Kepler Award from the U.S. Institute of Navigation, an NSERC Steacie Award and the Gold Medal Award from Engineers Canada. She was selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, has received four honorary degrees, and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada.