Thomas (tom) Jenkins

Biography

Jenkins is Chair of the Board of OpenText Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC) of Waterloo, the largest software company in Canada. Mr. Jenkins is the Chair of the National Research Council of Canada and the tenth Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. He is Chair of the Ontario Global 100 (OG100) and a co-founder of Communitech in Waterloo. Mr. Jenkins has pioneered many of the technologies commonly used today to manage digital information to increase productivity and governance. Mr. Jenkins is the author or co-author of ten widely read books, most recently Digital: Disrupt or Die, eGovernment or Out of Government and Enterprise Information Management. Mr. Jenkins has co-authored with his excellency, David Johnston, the Governor General of Canada, the book Ingenious which is a history of innovation in Canada that will be released in March 2017. Mr. Jenkins is a member of the board of Manulife Financial Corporation, Thomson Reuters Inc., and TransAlta Corporation. He is a member of the Business Council of Canada, the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary and he is a member of the Advisory Council of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Mr. Jenkins is the Co-Chair of the Business Higher Education Roundtable (BHER) that is the co-ordinating body of Canada’s largest employers, largest universities and colleges. He is the Co-Chair of the Advisory Council for the Governor General of Canada Innovation Awards Program. He is the past Chair of the Government of Canada reports on: Military Procurement Review; Research and Development Policy Review; and the Innovation and Government Procurement. Mr. Jenkins was the founding Chair of the federal centre of excellence Canadian Digital Network which co-ordinates commercialization activity in the digital economy throughout Canada. He has been a past member of Advisory Panels on Open Government, Canadian Space Agency and on the status of women in corporations. He is a past member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Government of Canada’s Competition Policy Review Panel and the Province of Ontario’s Ontario Commercialization Network Review Committee (OCN). He was also past Chair of the Premier of Ontario’s roundtable on innovation. Mr. Jenkins has received honorary doctorates from the University of Waterloo, York University, Carleton University, McMaster University and the Royal Military College of Canada. He is a recipient of the Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year, the McMaster Engineering L.W. Shemilt Distinguished Alumni Award and the Schulich School of Business Outstanding Executive Leadership award. Mr. Jenkins is the recipient of the Next Canada Spotlight Award for lifetime achievement in innovation. Mr. Jenkins received an M.B.A. (York University), an EE M.A.Sc. (University of Toronto) and a B.Eng. & Mgt. in Engineering Physics and Commerce (McMaster University). He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE). He is the 2017 Companion of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame (CBHF). Mr. Jenkins was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (QDJM). Mr. Jenkins is an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) for his contributions to education and innovation in Canada.

Research Interest

Business