Andrew K. Bjerring

As President and CEO of CANARIE Incorporated, Dr. Bjerring was instrumental in developing and providing world-class networking to every Canadian university and research organization in the country. CANARIE is a not-for-profit corporation that facilitates the development and use of next-generation research networks and the applications and services that run on them. Dr. Bjerring was a founding member and Secretary of CANARIE’s Board of Directors, and became President and CEO in October 1993, the same year the organization was formed.

Prior to his appointment at CANARIE, Dr. Bjerring held various positions at Western University (formerly the University of Western Ontario), including Assistant Provost, Assistant Vice President (Academic Planning and Budgeting) and Senior Director for Information Technology Services. He obtained his BSc and MSc degrees from the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto, respectively, and his PhD from Western University.

Over the past 25 years, Dr. Bjerring has sat on numerous boards of directors of organizations dealing with advanced networking and related applications. He is currently Chair of Ocean Networks Canada and a member of the Board of Directors of Cybera Inc. He is also a member of the Multidisciplinary Review Panel for the Government of Alberta’s Research Capacity Program. He was a member of the Board of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority from 2000 to 2003, Chair of the Ontario Regional Network (ONet) from its founding in 1988 until 1992, and founding treasurer of CA*net Networking Inc. in 1990, and a member of the Board until 1997. Dr. Bjerring has participated on several federal government advisory councils and panels, including those dealing with Government on Line, the Canadian e-Business Initiative, the National Broadband Task Force, the BRAND program national selection committee, SchoolNet, Health Infostructure and the Community Access Program.

Dr. Bjerring has been awarded honorary Doctor of Science degrees by the University of Manitoba and the University of Victoria.

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