Wendy Cukier

Wendy Cukier is one of Canada's leading experts on disruptive technologies and innovation and is a coauthor of the best seller Innovation Nation: From Java to Jurassic Park and many articles on digital transformation. More recently her work has also included a focus on social innovation. She founded the Diversity Institute to develop evidence based strategies to promote inclusion. Cukier is one of the Founders of Lifeline Syria, a citizen's group created to promote private sponsorship of Syrian refugees and she leads the Ryerson University Lifeline Syria Challenge, a unique approach to mobilizing students, faculty, staff and partners in post secondary institutions to address a pressing social issue.

She is also president of the Coalition for Gun Control and has worked for more than 25 issues with crime prevention and victims organizations across the country and around the world. Her book, The Global Gun Epidemic, was endorsed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu. She has received many awards: the YWCA, Women of Distinction Award, the Canadian Public Health Association Award of Merit, the Canadian Criminal Justice Public Education Award, Toronto’s Bob Marley Award, and the Black Business and Professional Association’s Harry Jerome Diversity Award.

Cukier is a recipient of the Governor General's Meritorious Cross, one of Canada's highest civilian honours and was named one of the University of Toronto's 100 Alumni Who Shaped the Century. She holds a PhD in management science (York); an MBA and an MA (Toronto) and BA in history and English (Brock) and honorary doctorates from Laval and Concordia. It was recently announced that she was selected as the first alumni and first woman to lead Brock University as president and vice-chancellor, effective September 2016.