David Steeves

David Steeves has been appointed chair of the 2007-2008 CANARIE board of directors, replacing Dr Christopher Loomis, VP research at Memorial Univ. Steeves is executive director, business development and outsourcing with IBM Canada Ltd's global technology services division. Dr Mark Whitmore has been appointed vice-chair. Whitmore is dean of the faculty of science at the Univ of Manitoba. The CANARIE board has 14 members, drawn evenly the agency's industry and institutional (academic and research organizations) membership….

The federal government has appointed two new members to the governing council of the National Research Council. Dr Dennis Anderson is the former president of Brandon Univ (1990-2000) and a professor of marketing with the school's management faculty (now Asper School of Business). He currently serves as a management consultant in Canada and internationally. Eva Mah Borsato is the founder of Envirocorp Ltd (now part of Stantec Consulting Ltd), a provider of facilities design and project management services. Borsato is currently president and CEO of ICCI Intellectual Capital Corp Inc, an Edmonton-based business and management consulting services company....

Angiotech Pharmaceutical co-founder and CEO Dr William Hunter has been appointed chairman of the board of Vancouver's Neuromed Pharmaceuticals. He has served on the Neuromed board since 2004....

The Univ of Toronto has scored a major coup with the appointment of Dr Richard Florida as professor of business and creativity at the Rotman School of Management and academic director of its recently established Centre for Jurisdictional Advantage and Prosperity (CJAP). Florida is a highly renowned social sciences researcher whose books — The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class — pose the theory that tolerant, open urban centres tend to be more innovative and wealthy. His research has made him a household name within the S&T and innovation communities and his arrival at U of T this fall to head up CJAP is considered an important contributor to Toronto's growing reputation as a world class technology hub. Florida was convinced to relocate to Toronto by Rotman dean Roger Martin, who was also instrumental in securing $50 million in funding towards the $120-million CJAP in the last Ontario Budget (R$, April 24/07). His move to Canada has caused a stir on both sides of the border, capped last week by an appearance on The Colbert Report, a highly influential satirical television program hosted by Stephen Colbert. Florida is currently the Hirst professor of public policy at George Mason Univ — a position he has held for three years. He is also founder of the Creative Class Group, an advisory services firm based in Washington, D.C. He holds a PhD from Columbia Univ….