MaRS appoints two new members to Board of Directors

TORONTO, Feb. 13, 2013 /CNW/ - MaRS Discovery District is pleased to announce the appointment of Elaine Campbell, President of AstraZeneca Canada Inc. and Elyse Allan, President and CEO, GE Canada to its Board of Directors.

"I'm extremely pleased to welcome Elaine Campbell and Elyse Allan — two of the most accomplished women in business today — to the MaRS Board," said Ilse Treurnicht, CEO, MaRS Discovery District. "Their outstanding leadership in MaRS' priority areas of technology, healthcare and energy will bolster our efforts in building Canada's knowledge economy."

The MaRS Board of Directors is chaired by Gordon M. Nixon, President and CEO of RBC. MaRS founder Dr. John Evans serves as the board's Chair Emeritus.

"This year, with the launch of Phase 2, MaRS is in a great position to move forward into a new phase of growth, building innovation networks not only across Canada, but around the world. With their combined decades of experience growing businesses both in Canada and the US, Ms. Campbell and Ms. Allan will be key members of the board and instrumental in helping MaRS achieve its strategic objectives," said Nixon.

Elaine Campbell
Elaine Campbell is president and CEO of AstraZeneca Canada Inc., part of AstraZeneca PLC, one of the world's leading biopharmaceutical companies. Ms. Campbell has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including eleven years with AstraZeneca PLC in the United States and Canada. She has also worked globally on marketed and pre-market development projects for the company. Previously, Ms. Campbell was a senior vice-president with DuPont Pharma, a division of E.I. DuPont & Nemours in the US. During her tenure there, she held senior leadership roles within the sales and marketing functions in both the US and Canada. Ms. Campbell holds a bachelor of applied science in chemical engineering from the University of Toronto and an MBA from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. She has served on the Board of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Heart Association and was president-elect of the Mid-Atlantic Board of the Healthcare Business Women's Association before moving back to Canada in 2012.

Elyse Allan
In her role as president and CEO of GE Canada and vice-president, GE, Elyse Allan is responsible for growing GE's business in Canada and advancing the company's leadership in advanced technology, services and finance. Her career with GE has spanned the US and Canada, including several industrial and consumer businesses in aviation, energy and lighting. Prior to her current role, Ms. Allan was president and CEO of the Toronto Board of Trade, and before that a senior executive at Ontario Hydro. Ms. Allan serves on several boards of directors, including the Executive Committee for the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, the C.D. Howe Institute, the Conference Board of Canada, MaRS, and the ROM Board of Governors. She recently completed her tenure as chair, Canadian Chamber of Commerce and director, the Royal Ontario Museum. Ms. Allan holds a BA in biology & environmental studies from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth.

Ms. Campbell and Ms. Allan will join existing MaRS board members:

• The Hon. John P. Manley (Vice Chair), President and CEO, Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Ottawa
• Lawrence S. Bloomberg, Director of National Bank of Canada, Toronto
• Derek Evans, President, CEO and Director of Pengrowth Energy Corporation, Calgary
• Richard W. Ivey, Chairman, Ivest Properties Limited, Toronto
• Geoffrey Matus, President of Mandukwe Inc., Toronto
• Michael H. McCain, President and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Toronto
• Sheila O'Brien, President of Belvedere1 Investments, Calgary
• Jack Rabinovitch, Founder of The Giller Prize, President of Nodel Investments Ltd., Toronto
• Calvin R. Stiller, Chair of Genome Canada, Chair and CEO of Stilco Corp., London, Ontario
• Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS Discovery District, Toronto
• William White, Partner: CBW Associates, Toronto
• Paul Young, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, University of Toronto

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District (www.marsdd.com) (@MaRSDD) is a mission-driven innovation centre located in Toronto. MaRS works with partners to catalyze, accelerate and amplify innovation. MaRS supports entrepreneurs building Canada's next generation of growth companies.

SOURCE: MaRS Discovery District

For further information:

Melissa Hughes
Manager, Media & Community Relations
MaRS Discovery District
416.673.8100 ext. 2710
[e-mail]