Ian Telfer

Biography

Ian Telfer has been a transformative force in the international mining industry for more than 30 years. A chartered accountant by training, the entrepreneur, financier, mine-builder and industry innovator has founded numerous companies with assets throughout the Americas, Asia and Australia including TVX Gold (sold to Kinross), Peak Gold (sold to Newgold), Gold Wheaton (sold to Franco Nevada) and Mount Milligan (now owned by Centerra Gold). Since 2006 Mr. Telfer has been Chairman of Goldcorp and was Chief Executive Officer of Goldcorp and its predecessor Wheaton River Minerals since 2001. In less than a decade, Goldcorp grew to become one of the world’s premier senior gold producers and has spun off several other successful ventures, including Terrane Minerals, Silver Wheaton and Tahoe Gold. Mr. Telfer served as Chairman of the World Gold Council from 2009-2013. In 2007 he received the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In 2013 Mr. Telfer was named one of Canada’s top 25 most powerful business people and listed in Canadian Business Magazine’s “The Power 50.” In 2015 he was inducted into the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and in 2016 he was honoured as a Laureate of the British Columbia Business Hall of Fame. Mr. Telfer’s philanthropic interests support initiatives in education, health, community development and arts and culture. In 2007 he donated $25 million to what is now known as the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa, which at the time was the largest single gift ever given to a Canadian business school. Mr. Telfer has also personally donated millions of dollars in support of the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, the Vancouver Playhouse, Collingwood School and The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. In November 2015, he and with his wife Nancy Burke were recognized at the 10th Annual Global Forum on Human Settlements held at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York with an award for “Innovation in Green Energy” for a technology project that will convert waste to make power in west Africa. Mr. Telfer is a Fellow in the Institute of Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Ottawa. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa in 2015.

Research Interest

Business Management