Dr. Wendy Cukier is Vice-President of Research and Innovation at Ryerson University and leads Ryerson University’s strategy to grow research and to promote innovation and commercialization. Previously, she was the Associate Dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management, Canada’s largest business school. A leading researcher in her own right, her work focuses on innovation. She has written more than 200 papers on enabling technologies and innovation and is the coauthor of the bestseller “Innovation Nation: From Java to Jurassic Park”. In 1999, she founded the Diversity Institute to advance evidence-based strategies to promote inclusion and she has led several large-scale projects including the SSHRC-funded DiversityLeads which involves more than 30 partners and The Black Experience project, with YMCA, Environics Institute and United Way.
An active volunteer, working with non-profit and industry organizations including the International Women’s Forum and the Diversity Forum at Toronto Region Board of Trade, she is on the Board of Directors of the Environics Institute, Women’s College Hospital and several hi-tech start-ups. She is a recipient of the Governor General’s Meritorious Cross, one of Canada’s highest civilian honours. She was also named one of the University of Toronto’s 100 Alumni Who Shaped the Century, and in 2010 was selected as one of 25 Transformational Canadians by The Globe and Mail, La Presse and CTV. Dr. Cukier was awarded the YWCA Women of Distinction Award and named a 2013 Top 25 Women of Influence.
Dr. Cukier holds a PhD in management science; an MBA in marketing and information systems and an MA in social and cultural history; and an Honours BA in English and history. She also has been awarded an honorary Doctor d’Université from Laval University and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Concordia University.