Executives in residence

Richard brings a wealth of private-sector experience to his Executive in Residence and graduate teaching roles.

Following service in the Canadian military, Richard built a 30-year company and industry-award winning career in the financial services sector with Manulife Financial. He held increasingly senior field leadership roles in the areas of pension investment, insurance, securities and banking services. His role as Regional Vice-President saw him responsible for a multi-billion dollar distribution & service operation that partnered with thousands of financial professionals and spanned Eastern, Northern and Central Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

Richard has contributed his recognized expertise in the areas of leadership and team development, sales management as well as ethics & governance to such industry and civic leadership roles as:

• Chair, Board of Directors, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce
• Chair, Board of Directors, Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation
• Chair, United Way Provincial Campaign, Manulife (Quebec)
• Chair, Manulife Field Executive Advisory Council
• Chair, Board of Trustees, Kiwanis Medical Foundation
• Corporate Representative, Market Conduct / Ethics Tribunal, Financial Services Commission of Ontario

His passion and commitment to talent development ushered in a natural evolution to teaching. He has been the only sessional professor invited to teach leadership & team development concurrently at the MBA programs at both Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business and the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management. As well, he has taught business ethics, leadership and organizational influence at Donghua University in Shanghai, China.

Richard’s energetic and student-centered teaching style has been recognized by consistently outstanding student evaluations and a number of major teaching awards including uOttawa’s APTPUO Professor the Year.

Richard was also the creator and host of a TV series for Rogers TV entitled “Unlocking the Leadership Door”, a multi-episode series of interviews with Ottawa’s leaders in the areas of education, medicine, sports & entertainment, family business, high technology innovation and governance.

As an Executive-in-Residence supporting the MBA program leadership group, he also provides executive coaching support for Telfer’s MBA teams and management team training & executive coaching for business and government clients on a referral-only basis.

Stephen Daze joined the Telfer School of Management in 2012 as an Entrepreneur in Residence, where he teaches entrepreneurship and is responsible for entrepreneurship strategy and program planning, providing counsel to students and faculty on business planning and business start-up issues, and working with the community to bolster support for the school’s entrepreneurship activities.

Dr. Michael Fung-Kee-Fung is Professor at the Departments of Obstetrics/ Gynecology and Surgery at the University of Ottawa and is currently Head of Surgical Oncology at the Ottawa Regional Cancer Program and the Ottawa Hospital. 

He is Chief of Cancer Transformation at the Ottawa Hospital and has a passionate interest in systems transformation and the role of collaborative methodologies in health innovation. He has pioneered the introduction of the Communities of Practice model in health care as a platform for engagement and innovation harvest to support knowledge transfer and systems performance improvements both at the regional and national levels. In addition he has co-designed and implemented a number of award winning clinical collaboration softwares.

He is presently co-leading the Telfer School of Management Health Transformation Exchange Initiative.

Clinically he co-leads the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group in gynecology and is Chair of the Robotic Surgery Program at the Ottawa Hospital. He has held a number of leadership positions in Gynecologic Oncology both nationally and provincially and is the recipient of a number of awards for his contributions.

Linda Lizotte-MacPherson is a recently retired senior executive that currently serves on a few boards, and provides coaching, teaching and strategic advice to senior executives in the Federal Government and industry. She brings a unique blend of experience and an exemplary track record of leadership in both government and the private sector at the CEO, COO, CIO and Deputy Minister levels. She has led complex organizations, launched start-ups, and managed large transformation and information technology programs throughout North America. Amongst many prior executive roles on her resume, Linda was most recently the President of the Canada Border Services Agency, President of the Canada School of Public Service and Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency. She was also the first Chief Executive Officer of Canada Health Infoway, where she successfully launched the corporation.

Glen Orsak is the Director of Telfer Executive Programs at the Telfer School of Management.  In this role, Glen leads a community of faculty, facilitators, coaches and subject matter experts to co-create and deliver leadership development programs and services that respond to the ever-evolving needs of leaders and executives in today’s organizations. 

Telfer Executive Programs is the premiere provider of executive & leadership development programs and services across the National Capital Region, with a reach across Canada and internationally.  The primary sectors of focus at Telfer Executive Programs includes the Health Sector, Public Sector and selected segments of the private sector. 

Prior to his role at Telfer, Glen was a Partner at Deloitte Consulting where he lead business transformation engagements with clients in Ottawa and around the world for 20 years.  Glen is also a trained executive coach and develops and delivers leadership programs in this capacity.

Dan Ross has extensive experience in leadership, management, policy, procurement, information management and strategic planning gained through various positions held with the Canadian Forces/Department of National Defence, the Privy Council Office, and Public Works and Government Services Canada.

Mr. Ross is currently a part-time Executive in Residence and Visiting Professor at the Telfer School of Management where he teaches Complex Project Leadership.

Mr. Ross was Assistant Deputy Minister Materiel from May 2005 to December 2012 with the Department of National Defence. As ADM Materiel he provided leadership and direction to a group of 4,400 military and civilian staff and was responsible for an annual budget of $5 – 6 billion. He oversaw the delivery of the largest re-equipping program for the Canadian Forces since the Korean Conflict and at the same time led an extensive series of projects to provide Canadian troops in Afghanistan with equipment and capabilities critical to improving soldier survivability and operational effectiveness.

Prior to that appointment, he was Assistant Deputy Minister of Information Management in the Department of National Defence. From 2002 to 2003 he was Associate Assistant Deputy Minister of the Operations Branch of Public Works and Government Services Canada. From 1999 to 2002 he was Deputy to the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister and Director of Operations for the Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat at the Privy Council Office.

Mr. Ross retired from the Canadian Forces in September 2002 after serving in uniform for 30 years and four days, having enrolled at a very young age. During his military career, Mr. Ross instructed gunnery at the Artillery School in Gagetown, New Brunswick, and commanded A Battery, 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Lahr, West Germany from 1985 to 1987. He commanded the 2nd Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Petawawa, Ontario from 1990 to 1992, and was Commander Land Forces Western Area from 1997 to 1999.

Mr. Ross graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He is a graduate of the National Defence College, the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College, and the Canadian Forces Land Command and Staff College. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Commercial Corporation from 2006 to 2012.

Heather Sherrard is currently a Clinical Research Associate with the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Research Corporation with a focus on virtual health care. She has 35 years of leadership roles in health care, most recently as the Executive Vice President Clinical Operations at the Ottawa Heart Institute. She holds a BScN from the University of Saskatchewan; an MHA from the University of Ottawa and is certified in change management and coaching. 

She has served on a variety of provincial committees including: the Wait time Strategy; eHealth Ontario as well as complex clinical advisory groups. She is a founding Director and Board Chair of the Ottawa Health Services Network – a not for profit organization facilitating care and access to specialized health care for patients of the Baffin region. Heather has consulted on health care practice internationally and has been an international surveyor for Accreditation Canada. 

Susan St. Amand is an entrepreneur and business owner who has worked for over 30-years with enterprising families. As a member of an entrepreneurial family herself, she deeply understands the fundamental role family businesses play across the economic landscape nationally and internationally, the Telfer School of Management is proud to appoint her as the inaugural Gordon Family Executive in Residence in Family Enterprise.

St. Amand is an expert in governance and current National Board Chair for Family Enterprise Canada (FEC), St. Amand will help establish the Family Enterprise Legacy Institute (FELI) governance structures and work towards ensuring its long-term sustainability. Passionate about ensuring stability and continuity from one generation to the next, St. Amand is particularly focused on the vital role of the next generation in family enterprise. Along with her work at FEC, St. Amand has chaired more than half a dozen boards and been director on more than two-dozen, including the Ottawa Community Foundation, Ottawa International Airport Authority, CALU, the Ottawa STEP Chapter, and a private steel company.

Additionally, as Founder, President and CEO of The Sirius Group Inc., St. Amand works directly with business and philanthropic families, developing and building strategic pathways and governance structures to help businesses and families succeed.