Myron Echenberg, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, McGill University
Myron Echenberg is Professor Emeritus of History at McGill University, where he taught African History and the History of Health and Disease for four decades. He has published widely in his field, and his most recent works are: Plague Ports: The Global Urban Impact of Bubonic Plague, 1894-1901 (New York University Press, 2007), and Death in Africa: A History of Cholera Pandemics from 1815 to the Present (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming in 2011).
Elizabeth Gomery
Vice-President, Gift Planning - The Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation
A graduate of McGill Law (B.C.L and LL.B) and Political Science, Elizabeth is the Vice-President, Gift Planning of the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. Prior to that, she was the Executive Director of the McCord Museum Foundation, Director of Development of McGill’s Faculty of Arts and also practiced civil and commercial litigation. She sits on the Board of the Girls Action Foundation and has been involved on the Boards of the Women’s Y Foundation and the Ville-Marie Oncology Foundation. She is a member of the Scarlet Key Honour Society and is often asked to speak on philanthropy and business development.
Christopher Manfredi, Committee chair and Dean, Faculty of Arts, McGill University
He received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Calgary and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate University (California). He is a scholar and authority on the role of the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, in democratic societies, principally Canada and the United States. His research focuses on law and the courts with a particular emphasis on the political and policy impact of rights litigation. He has held or still holds research grants from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Donner Canadian Foundation and the Max Bell Foundation. Professor Manfredi has published extensively in academic and professional journals and is a highly regarded political and legal commentator.
Senator Michael A. Meighen, representative of Peter Cundill and Counsel to the law firm Norton Rose
A graduate of McGill University and Université Laval, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1990. In his private career, Senator Meighen practiced litigation and commercial law in Montreal and Toronto. He is Counsel to the law firm Ogilvy Renault (now Norton Rose), and was Legal Counsel to the Deschênes Commission on War Criminals. He is Chairman of Cundill Funds (Vancouver) and sits on the McGill Board of Governors.
Will Straw is the Director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada and professor of Communications in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University. He is currently director of a research project, funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec -Société et culture, on ‘Media and Urban Life in Montreal.’ Dr. Straw has a longstanding interest in crime and is the author of Cyanide and Sin: Visualizing Crime in 50s America, and co-editor of the volume Aprehendiendo al delincuente: Crimen y medios en América del norte. Dr. Straw has been a music correspondent for Prime Time (CBC Radio), popular culture correspondent for the Women's Television Network, and a cultural commentator for Newswatch (CBC Television, Montreal). He comments regularly on media and cultural issues for a variety of media.
Ryerson Symons, Partner, New York law firm Simpson Thacher
Ryerson Symons is a Partner in the Firm's New York Office. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and other business combination transactions as well as corporate finance transactions. Mr. Symons has frequently represented many of the world's leading private equity firms, including Apax Partners, The Blackstone Group, KKR, Permira and Providence Equity Partners. Mr. Symons joined Simpson Thacher in 1992 and was based in the Firm's London office from 1994-1996. In 1997, he spent a year on secondment with Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris before returning to the Firm's New York office where he became partner in 2001. Mr. Symons received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science from McGill University in 1988, a Bachelor of Arts in Jurisprudence from Oxford University in 1990 and a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University in 1992.
Mr. Kenneth Whyte, President, Rogers Publishing
Ken Whyte is President of Rogers Publishing Limited. He is formerly Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Maclean's, as well as Executive Publisher of Chatelaine, Canadian Bsuiness, and other magazines. Mr. Whyte has more than 20 yaers's experience as a journalist. His previous positions include Editor-in-Chief of Saturday Night magazine and Founding Editor of the National Post.