CSEE Advisory Board

Our Advisory Board is critical to delivering on the CSEE vision. Providing oversight and advice, members of the CSEE Advisory Board have a direct role to play in the success of the Centre. Members may:

• Advise on academic programs
• Assist with organizational/administrative planning
• Attract industry partners
• Fundraise
• Engage the community
• Advocate sustainable principles to a wider public
• Act as CSEE ambassadors at meetings, events, and conferences

Contact Debi Walker for more information about the Advisory Board

Dr. A. Kevin Francis

A native of Sydney, NS, Dr. Kevin A. Francis currently serves as president and chief executive officer of CenterBeam, an IT managed service provider, based in California.

Prior to CenterBeam, Dr. Francis was president, chief executive officer and director of Accelio Corporation, a leading global provider of Web-enabled business process solutions. Before joining Accelio, he held a variety of positions with Xerox including chairman, president and CEO of Xerox Canada.
His current appointments include the CEO Council for the Entrepreneurs' Foundation in San Jose, California. Previously, he has served as a member of the Executive Committee of The Conference Board, Director of Tundra Semiconductor Corporation, Director of Softchoice Corporation where he also served as Chairman of the Management Resource and Compensation Committee, Governor for St. Francis Xavier University, Governor of the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Director of The National Quality Institute, Director of the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, a director of the Information Technology Association of Canada, the Public Policy Forum and campaign cabinet for United Way.

He earned a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) from St. Francis Xavier University and a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) from St. Mary's University. He completed Executive Development Programs at Queen's University and the Senior Executive Program at the University of Western Ontario. In October 1999, Dr. Francis received an Honorary Doctorate (D.Comm) in Commerce from St. Mary's University in Halifax. In 2008, Dr. Francis received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LL.D) from St. Francis Xavier University.

James D. Irving

James D. (Jim) Irving is President of J.D. Irving, Limited.
Jim Irving has served on Finance Minister Flaherty’s Economic Advisory Council and is active on the Board of the Lahey Clinic Medical Center in Massachusetts in addition to the Ivey Advisory Board, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario. Mr. Irving’s community work includes capital campaign leadership for the regional Nature Conservancy of Canada initiatives as well as the Université de Moncton. He is also actively involved in leading the company’s efforts in wild Atlantic salmon conservation and research, in addition to international award-winning partnerships with elementary and middle schools as well as post-secondary institutions.

Dan Christmas

Dan Christmas has served in various leadership positions in the Mi’kmaw Nation of Nova Scotia. After serving as the Band Manager for the Community of Membertou, Mr. Christmas worked for the Union of Nova Scotia Indians as its Director. He was also actively involved in the recognition and the implementation of Mi’kmaw aboriginal and treaty rights in Nova Scotia.

Mr. Christmas currently holds the position of Senior Advisor with Membertou. He has also served as the chairperson of the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and the Cape Breton Partnership. Dan is now serving his eighth consecutive term as an elective councillor for the Community of Membertou, as well as serving on the board of Nova Scotia Business Inc.
Mr. Christmas was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University for his work with the Mi’kmaw people of Nova Scotia and was also the recipient of the National Excellence in Aboriginal Leadership Award from the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada and the Sparks Award from Novaknowledge for forward thinking.

Dr. Rafik Loutfy

Dr. Rafik Loutfy is Director, Xerox Centre for Engineering Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Professor and Walter Booth Chair of Engineering Entrepreneurship & Innovation, at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

He has served on numerous boards including Advisory Board Member, Exceler@tor, Innovation Foundation, University of Toronto; Board of Editor Member Research & Technology Management Journal; McMaster Joint IP Board; and served as vice chair, then chairman of Canadian Light Source Inc.

Dr. Loutfy earned a Bachelor of Science (Chemistry) as well as a Masters of Science (Organic Chemistry) from Ain Shams University in Cairo. He earned a Ph.D. in Photo Pysics from the University of Western Ontario and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Toronto. He also received the Xerox Innovation Group Excellence in Management and the Xerox Eagle Patent Award. He was recognized as a Fellow of the Society of Imaging Science & Technology and the Chemical Institute of Canada. In 2004 he was presented with the Xerox Corporation’s President Award in Technology Innovation.

John Lynn

John K. Lynn is the Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, a Federal Crown corporation, whose purpose is to diversify and stabilize the economy of Cape Breton Island and Mulgrave. Mr. Lynn is also the President and a Director of DARR, a subsidiary of ECBC whose mandate involves property development, management, environmental remediation, land sale and redeployment. Mr. Lynn is responsible to the Board of Directors of ECBC, is a Director of the corporation and is a member of the Executive Committee of ACOA.

He previously held roles as President, Atlantic Region, Sobeys Inc.; President and COO of the Central Group of Companies; Principal and owner of Pragmatic Management Solutions a consulting firm dedicated to optimizing the performance of business organizations. He has also worked in management roles in the mining, manufacturing, energy, retail, wholesale and service sectors.

Mr. Lynn holds degrees from St. Francis Xavier and Queen’s University and has studied at the Richard Ivy School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. He is a current member of the Institute of Corporate Directors and served as past Chair of the Aberdeen Hospital Foundation, past Director, Pictou County Chamber of Commerce; past Recipient of the Scott Weeks Community Service award; past President of the Weeks Hockey Organization and current Chair of the Maritime Junior Hockey League. He is a member of the Pictou County Sports Hall of Fame. He currently resides in Big Pond, Cape Breton.

George W. MacDonald, Q.C.

George W, MacDonald is Counsel in the Halifax office of McInnes Cooper and Chair of the firm's Business Dispute Resolution Practice Group. George also works extensively as a mediator and arbitrator and he is a professional engineer.
Mr. MacDonald is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and the Association of Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia. He is a Founding Fellow and past President of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyer and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. George lectured at Dalhousie University on Engineering law and torts and civil procedure. He participates frequently in continuing education programs organized by the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and the Canadian Bar Association. He has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo and the Board of Governors of the Technical University of Nova Scotia, and is a former Member of the Board of Governors at Dalhousie University.

R. Keith MacLeod, P.Eng

Keith MacLeod currently holds the positions of President and Chairman of the Board of Sproule Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries. In this position he is responsible for managing its Canadian, U.S., International, Unconventional and Project Management businesses. His worldwide experience at Sproule has been primarily in the areas of oil and gas reserves/resource evaluations, acquisitions and divestitures, securities commission reports, expert witness testimony and investment advice.

Keith lectured at the University of Calgary for many years and continues to present to industry on oil and gas disclosure related matters. He was one of a numbers of authors involved in the preparation of the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook and National Instrument 51-101.

    
Gail Rudderham-Chernin, Q.C.    

A resident of Sydney, Gail is partner of Rudderham-Chernin Law Office, Inc. In 2003, she was named president of the Nova Scotia Barrister’s Society, becoming only the third female president the organization’s 178 year history. She was appointed Queen’s Counsel and was the first recipient of the prestigious Constance Glube Spirit Award for initiative and excellence in women in the law in Nova Scotia.
She has received the two highest service awards in the Sydney Rotary Club, served as Campaign Chair of the United Way of Cape Breton and most recently became Chair of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – Atlantic Region.

Ms. Rudderham-Chernin earned a Bachelor of Commerce from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then continued her studies at Dalhousie, earning Bachelor of Laws degree.

She continues to serve as a board member of the Cape Breton Family YMCA, the Cape Breton Industrial Board of Trade, Howard House of Cape Breton and Women’s World Finance/Cape Breton Association.

Ex-officio Members

John Harker

Appointed as Cape Breton University’s fifth president, John Harker also serves as Chair of the Council of Nova Scotia University Presidents and as Chair of the CBU Foundation. He has served as a Member of the Executive Committee of the National Research Council and as Acting President of LearnCorp International.

Early in his career, he served as Advisor on African Liberation Movements to Prime Minister Joe Clark and later authored the proposal on South Africa which was taken up by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their 1985 Nassau Meeting as the Eminent Persons Group.

In 1990, Harker was asked to head the Commonwealth’s review of South Africa’s post-apartheid human resources needs requested by Nelson Mandela and in 1996-97 he served as Special Advisor in the Office of the President of South Africa, on the creation of South Africa’s National Development Agency.

In 1999 the Government of Canada appointed him as Special Advisor on African Issues and tasked him to examine the role of Canada's largest oil and gas producer in the context of the civil war in Sudan.

Prior to becoming CBU President, he served as Advisor to former US President, Jimmy Carter, on political violence and elections in Africa and the Western Hemisphere.

In 2007/08 he chaired an International Review of the social impact of the world’s largest open-pit coal mining operation in Colombia and then facilitated negotiations between the mining company and affected communities.
Harker holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Liverpool, a Master of Arts in Political Science from Dalhousie University and an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Dalhousie in recognition of his international peace building work. He is an Adjunct Professor of International Development Studies at Dalhousie University. He is also Honourary Lt. Colonel of the Cape Breton Highlanders.

Annette Verschuren

Annette Verschuren was formerly president of The Home Depot Canada and Asia. She also led The Home Depot’s entry into China.

Ms. Verschuren began her career as a development officer with the Cape Breton Development Corporation. She then worked with Canada Development Investment Corporation as executive vice-president, privatizing crown Corporations, before joining Imasco Limited as vice-president, corporate development. Immediately prior to joining The Home Depot, Ms Verschuren was president and co-owner of Michaels of Canada, a chain of arts and crafts stores.

In 2010, Ms. Verschuren was indicted into Canada’s Marketing hall of Legends and the Nova Scotia Business Hall of Fame. In 2006, Wilfred Laurier University named her Outstanding Business Leader of the Year. And in 2005, Retail Council of Canada names her distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year.

Appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Ms. Verschuren served as a member of the North American Competitiveness Council, part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. She was also a member of finance Minister Flaherty’s Economic Advisory Council, a group of 11 Canadian business leaders charged with advising the Government of Canada on the global economic crisis.

Ms. Verschuren is a board member of Liberty Mutual, a Boston Massachusetts-based insurance company, and the Conference Board of Canada. She previously served as vice chair of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives.

In 2011, she was appointed chair of the 2012 Governor General’s Leadership Conference, Canada’s premier leadership training event.

A champion of community investment and volunteerism, Ms. Verschuren serves as Chancellor of Cape Breton University and chairs fundraising efforts for the University’s Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment (CSEE).
Ms. Verschuren holds honorary doctorate degrees from Mount Saint Vincent University and St. Francis Xavier University, where she also earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

Dr. Ross McCurdy

Dr. Ross McCurdy is Chief Operating Officer of the newly established Centre for Sustainability in Energy and the Environment (CSEE) at Cape Breton University.
Dr. McCurdy is also President of LearnCorp International (LCI), and was formerly President and CEO of the Cape Breton Development Corporation, better known as DEVCO.

He also served as President and CEO of InNOVAcorp, a provincial crown corporation mandated to help Nova Scotia companies commercialize new technologies; and Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Ocean Nutrition Canada, a global company, innovating and supplying quality marine-based natural ingredients to the supplement and functional food markets. He has held senior positions with MDS, Fenwick Laboratories Limited and Victoria General Hospital (now QEII), Atlantic Canada's largest teaching hospital and was an associate professor at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Medicine and adjunct professor at the Technical University of Nova Scotia.

Dr. McCurdy holds a Bachelor of Science from Saint Mary's University, Masters’ degrees in Public Health and in Science from the University of Minnesota, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Water Resources Engineering from the Technical University of Nova Scotia. He chaired the Nova Scotia Task Force on Productivity, Competitiveness & Economic Prosperity and Chaired the Independent Review of Public Concerns of Radon & Uranium at the Proposed New Landfill Site in Halifax Regional Municipality. He was Chair of the Arthritis Society of Nova Scotia and the Leadership Chair, Metro Halifax United Way. He is currently a member of the Canada Foundation for Innovation Board of Directors and serves on the National Executive Committee 2012 of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference