A graduate of Simon Fraser University, Howard Sapers has always worked to ensure the wellbeing of all Canadians, both as an elected official and through his major contributions to criminology and corrections. He served two terms in the Alberta legislature as the MLA for Edmonton–Glenora, and in his second term, he served as House Leader and Leader of the Official Opposition. But worthy as his political contributions have been, they pale in comparison to his long and distinguished career in cri...
More about Howard Sapers

The common thread that runs through Lloyd Axworthy’s lengthy career in politics, international affairs and academia, is his commitment to defending the rights of marginalized individuals, children, indigenous peoples, and those who inhabit war-torn countries. He graduated in 1961 with a BA from United College and received an MA and PhD from Princeton University. In 2004, he returned to the University of Winnipeg to serve as President and Vice-Chancellor for ten years, working to make post-seco...
More about Lloyd Axworthy

Dr. Huda Akil is currently the Gardner Quarton Distinguished University Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, and Co-Director and Senior Research Professor of the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, at the University of Michigan. Throughout her brilliant career as a pioneering neuroscience researcher, Dr. Akil has contributed to our understanding of the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Dr. Akil completed her undergraduate train...
More about Huda Akil

As president and CEO of the National Bank of Canada since 2007, Louis Vachon is responsible for the strategies, direction and development of the bank and its affiliates. He has largely contributed to the growth of this bank, and hails from a family of successful business people. The basis for his success has been an innovative approach to building customer loyalty through communication, which is summarized in a simple yet visionary motto: one client, one bank. Before being named CEO, Louis Vac...
More about Louis Vachon

Gisèle Lalonde graduated from the École normale at the University of Ottawa in 1951, and became a pioneer in the field of education in Francophone Ontario. Initially a teacher, she rose through the ranks to be appointed to management roles within Franco-Ontarian schools, and later to positions and committees of increasing importance, first locally and then provincially and nationally. A Franco-Ontarian high school in Orleans bears her name in recognition of her unique contribution to education ...
More about Gisèle Lalonde

Throughout his extensive career in counselling, psychology and education, Jeffrey Kottler has sought to enlighten and educate both therapists and the public in order to foster mental health, creativity and understanding.  He studied at Oakland University, Harvard University, and the University of Stockholm, receiving his master’s degree in counseling at Wayne State University and his doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Virginia. Mr. Kottler has worked as a teac...
More about Jeffrey Kottler

Barbara Jackman’s legal career has centered on championing the rights of the less fortunate, particularly those of immigrants and refugees. She earned an undergraduate degree at the University of Windsor in 1972 before completing her law degree at the University of Toronto in 1976 and being called to the Bar in 1978. She has had a successful career as a litigator, including as counsel in cases involving immigration and refugee issues that have appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada. As a...
More about Barbara Jackman

A native of Montreal, Yves Joanette is the Scientific Director of the Institute of Aging, a member-institute of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He is also Executive Director of the CIHR Dementia Research Strategy, a member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and a full professor at the University of Montreal. Professor Joanette is an eminent cognitive neuroscientist who studies communication in the elderly, a cohort who numbers are rapidly increasing and which we are...
More about Yves Joanette

As the daughter of Colombia’s ambassador to UNESCO, Ingrid Bétancourt grew up between Paris and Bogota. She attended the Institut d’études politiques in Paris during the 1980s before marrying and then giving birth to two children, Mélanie and Lorenzo. She returned to Colombia and was elected as a liberal parliamentarian in 1994, before becoming a senator within the new Green party she founded, Oxígeno Verde. With great courage, she ceaselessly denounced corruption and pursued her vision of soci...
More about Ingrid Bétancourt

Chairman of Institut Mérieux Born in Lyon in 1938, Alain Mérieux followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, who were eminent researchers in the health sciences. His education in both pharmacology and business gave him the unique ability to understand the importance of higher education and research while effectively managing a range of successful foundations and companies in France and abroad. In 1963, he founded a company specializing in biodiagnostics and continued his father’s...
More about Alain Mérieux