November 21, 2012
Lorna Marsden is President emerita and professor at York University in Toronto. From 1997 to 2007 she served as President and Vice-Chancellor of York University. From 1992 to 1997, she was President and Vice-Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. From 1972 to 1992, she was a professor at the University of Toronto and served in several administrative capacities. She is the author of many scholarly publications in the field of economic sociology and social change in Canada.
In 1984, Prime Minister Trudeau named her to the Senate of Canada (Toronto-Taddle Creek) where she served for eight and a half years before resigning to become President of Wilfrid Laurier University. In the Senate she served on several committees including the Standing Committee on National Finance and chaired the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. She also served as Vice-Chair of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association.
Currently, Dr Marsden is a director of Manulife Financial, SNC-Lavalin, and Gore Mutual. She served on the Mayor’s Independent Fiscal Review Panel for the City of Toronto (2007 to 2008) and the Canada-Japan Forum (2003 to 2006). She is a member of the Senior Advisory Panel to the Auditor General of Canada. From 1975 to 1977, she was President of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and remains a member of the Ontario Committee on the Status of Women. She is a director of the Gardiner Museum and the Corporation of Massey Hall and Roy Thompson Hall. She completed the Financial Literacy Course of the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in 2007.
A native of Sidney, BC, she received her BA from the University of Toronto (1968) and PhD from Princeton University (1972) as well as LLD (Hons.) from UNB, University of Winnipeg, Queen’s University, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Victoria. She has been awarded the Order of Canada (2006), the Order of Merit (First Class) of the Federal Republic of Germany (2007), the Order of Ontario (2009), the YWCA Women of Distinction Award (2003), and was named one of Canada’s 100 most Powerful Women each year from 2003 to 2007 and is now in their Hall of Fame. She received the Golden Apple Award of the FWTAO in 1998. She has been honoured with the Queen’s Silver and Queen’s Gold Jubilee medals, the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, the Arbor Award of the University of Toronto Alumni Association and the Distinguished Alumni Award of the University of Victoria.