Members of the BoG

Mr. Richard Shaw (Chair) —  Lawyer, Richard A. Shaw Professional Corporation

Richard Shaw was appointed to the Board of Governors in August 2006 and was designated Board Chair in December 2010.

Mr. Shaw practices law in Calgary under the name Richard A. Shaw Professional Corporation.

Prior to that, Mr. Shaw was a partner with McCarthy Tétrault LLP for more than 30 years specializing in corporate governance, corporate finance, securities and mergers and acquisitions. He is a Governor of the Glenbow Museum and Chairs its Governance Committee and a past board member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and past 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.

Mr. Shaw is also a director of TSX listed Inter Pipeline Fund and Chairs its Governance Committee.

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Ms. Marie Delorme (Vice-Chair) — President, The Imagination Group

Marie Delorme was appointed to the Board of Governors in August 2007 and is the Board's Vice-Chair.

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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Mr. Jim Campbell — Vice-President, Government Affairs & Corporate Responsibility, Cenovus Energy Inc.

Jim Campbell was appointed to the Board of Governors in October 2011. Mr. Campbell is the Vice-President, Government Affairs & Corporate Responsibility for Cenovus Energy, where he is responsible for government relations, coordinating efforts across the company and serving as the company’s representative to various levels of government. He is also responsible for the company’s overall corporate responsibility strategy, policy and governance, and non-governmental organization (NGO) relations serving as a company representative with NGOs.

Mr. Campbell has several years experience in progressively senior positions dealing with government and public affairs. He worked for a number of years with GPC Government Policy Consultants in Edmonton, Victoria and Ottawa, advising a range of clients on government relations and strategic communications. He managed Alberta Government Relations at TELUS for several years before moving to BP Canada where he was Director of Government Affairs. Prior to joining Cenovus Energy, he was the Executive Director of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta.

Mr. Campbell holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Alberta and a Masters of Business Administration degree from 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).

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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Dr. David Docherty — President, Mount Royal University

Dr. David Docherty has been a member of the Board of Governors since his appointment as Mount Royal’s 9th President on August 1, 2011. As President, Dr. Docherty serves as ex-officio member on all of the Board’s Committees: Academic Affairs, Audit and Finance, Campus Development, Governance and Nominating, and Human Resources and Compensation.

Prior to joining Mount Royal, Dr. Docherty served as Senior Advisor on Multi-Campus Initiatives in the Office of the Vice-President, Academic and Provost, at Wilfrid Laurier University. Before that, he was Dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Arts, and Chair of the Political Science Department.

He is an accomplished academic, author, administrator, and a recognized expert on parliamentary democracy in Canada. Dr. Docherty has been instrumental in developing new undergraduate and graduate programs at Laurier; in 2005, he was named the Faculty of Arts Teaching Scholar.

Dr. Docherty obtained his Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University, his Master of Arts degree in Political Science from McMaster University, and his PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto.

The author of two books and numerous articles on Canadian politics, Dr. Docherty has been a frequent commentator on regional and national radio, and his analyses of provincial and national politics are regularly cited in leading Canadian newspapers.

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Ms. Meghan Melnyk — President, Students'Association of Mount Royal University

Meghan Melnyk was appointed to the Board of Governors in May 2011 as the student member.

Presently serving in the role of President of the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University, Ms. Melnyk firmly believes that the learning that occurs in the classroom is as important as learning done outside the classroom, and that the greatest compliment to a post-secondary degree is work experience. During her tenure as Vice-President, External, for the Students’ Association in 2010-2011, she worked on two political elections (Calgary Civic and Federal) coordinating awareness campaigns and events including the Mayoral Speed Date at Mount Royal University. She also accompanied the Students’ Association President across Canada advocating on behalf of Mount Royal University, Alberta, and Canadian student issues to all levels of government.

Ms. Melnyk has worked as the Director of Advancement for the Alberta Students’ Executive Council drafting the strategic plan, working with other members to restructure the governance processes, and serving as a member of the Executive team that successfully launched the SCIP program with the Alberta Government and Volunteer Alberta.

She has worked her way through school in a variety of positions, such as a constituency assistant, an intelligence clerk for the Federal Government, and developing educational programing for a police interpretive centre. She completed the Technical Writing certificate program as well as her Science and Technology diploma while working on a degree at Mount Royal. She was involved with the MRU Alumni Foundation calling program, MRU Cougars Golf Team, Policy Studies Alumni Chapter, as well as volunteering for various events on or around campus. 

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Ms. Elaine Mullen  — Associate Professor of English and Faculty Development Coordinator, Mount Royal University

Elaine Mullen was appointed to the Board of Governors in June 2011 as the faculty member.

Ms. Mullen joined Mount Royal in 1969. Since then, she has witnessed the governance of five Mount Royal Presidents and has actively participated in the growth and transformation of the institution. In 1990, she was the recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award. During her tenure in the English Department, Ms. Mullen has taught a variety of courses, developed curriculum for aboriginal programmes and taught at the Morley, Red Crow, and Gliechen reserves. She has been seconded for the last fifteen years to serve as Faculty Development Coordinator. In this position, she created numerous faculty development programmes and initiatives. As well, Ms. Mullen has served on many departmental, Mount Royal Faculty Association, and university committees. She has chaired conference planning committees and has presented at international conferences. Her current focus is on language and learning, brain-based pedagogy and evaluation of teaching.

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Dr. Alykhan Nanji — Founder and Director, C-ERA (Cardiovascular Evaluation and Risk Assessment) Clinic

Alykhan Nanji is a Canadian General Internal Medicine specialist with a Masters in Public Health from Harvard University and an MBA from Wharton (University of Pennsylvania). He is also certified as a Physician Executive with the American College of Physician Executives and a certified Public Health specialist with the American Public Health Association.

Alykhan is the founder and director of C-era, a cardiovascular evaluation clinic, in Calgary, Canada. C-era has grown to become a large outpatient multi-specialty group practice, which focuses on the evaluation of cardiometabolic risk.

Alykhan has been the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal from the Alberta Medical Association and the Immigrant of Distinction Award from Immigrant Services Calgary.

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Mr. Bryan Pinney —  Vice-Chair, Deloitte & Touche, LLP

Bryan Pinney was appointed to the Board of Governors in May 2009. 

Mr. Pinney is the Vice-Chair, Deloitte & Touche LLP.   Prior to that, Mr. Pinney was the National Managing Partner, Assurance and Advisory for Deloitte, and 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.

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. Paul Rossmann  — Vice-President, Strategy and Corporate Development,
Credit Union Central Alberta Ltd.

Paul Rossmann was appointed to the Board of Governors in December 2010. Mr. Rossmann is the Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development for Credit Union Central Alberta Ltd, where he is responsible for strategic planning, human resources, communications, government relations and administration. He has been employed in a variety of administrative and executive roles with Credit Union Central since1996.

Mr. Rossmann is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and currently serves on the board of the Credit Union EFT Development Association and management committee of Credit Union Payment Services. He was previously a board member and chair of the Suzuki Talent Education Society. Mr. Rossmann holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calgary, and a Master of Management Studies from Carleton University.
 

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Mr. Karl Smith —  President and Chief Executive Officer, FortisAlberta Inc. 

Karl Smith was appointed to the Board of Governors in November 2010.

Mr. Smith is the President and Chief Executive Officer of FortisAlberta Inc.  Prior to this he held the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Newfoundland Power Inc., from 2004 to 2007.  From 1989 to December 2003, Mr. Smith held the positions of Chief Financial Officer of Fortis Inc., Vice President, Finance of Fortis Properties, Fortis Trust Corporation and Newfoundland Power Inc.

Mr. Smith currently serves as Chair of the Canadian Electricity Association.  He serves on the Board of Directors of Belize Electricity Limited; Caribbean Utilities Company Ltd.; Junior Achievement of Southern Alberta. He has served as a Director for both Fortis Ontario and Newfoundland Power.  He served as Chair, Atlantic Provinces Economic Council, and Governor of the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame for Newfoundland.  Mr. Smith also served as a member of the Advisory Board to the Faculty of Business Administration, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.

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Mr. Bruce Thorpe —  Supervisor, Data Centre, Information Technology Services, Mount Royal University

Bruce Thorpe was appointed to the Board of Governors in August 2010 as the support staff member.

Mr. Thorpe is Supervisor of the Data Centre in Information Technology Services at Mount Royal University.  Bruce joined Mount Royal in December 1996 on a full-time basis following several casual and term appointments at Mount Royal between 1986 and 1992.  In September 2002, Bruce joined Information Technology Services as a Technology Support Analyst.  In February 2005, he was appointed Supervisor, Student Computing Services and in November 2009 moved to the position of Supervisor of the Data Centre.

During the past ten years, Bruce has served in a variety of roles with the Mount Royal Support Staff Association.  He has also served on a variety of community boards and is presently a Board member for the Duke of Edinburgh Award - Alberta, Northwest Territories & Nunavut.