Dean's Advisory Board

Dr. Sara Mann

Dean, Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics

Dr. Mann holds a PhD in Management from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. She is also an Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Strategic Human Resource Management at the University of Guelph. Dr. Mann's expertise includes employment issues, performance management, selection, and compensation.  Her research has been published in the International Review of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Human Resource Management Review, the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies and more. 

Joan Fisk (Chair)

Chief Executive Officer, United Way Waterloo Region Communities

Board Member since: June 2011

Joan Fisk was appointed Chief Executive Officer of United Way Waterloo Region Communities in July 2017. She previously served as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network, a position she started in June 2011.  She is also the Director of both Gore Mutual Insurance and the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony, Vice President of Membership for International Women’s Forum, Governor of Wilfrid Laurier University and President of Joan Fisk Design. Joan has also held the position of President and CEO for both the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce and Tiger Brand Knitting Company Limited, where she was also Head Designer.

Dr. Mark Goldberg

PlantForm Founder & Mentor, Innovation Guelph

Board Member since: June 2015

Dr. Mark Goldberg is an entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in drug research and as a regulatory consultant. He served as President and CEO of GlobalTox, a privately owned international corporation that he founded in 1992 to provide services in product testing and registration, human and environmental toxicology, and risk assessment. GlobalTox was purchased by MTE Consultants Inc. in 2009. Dr. Goldberg is the author of more than 50 scientific publications, primarily in the cancer research field and is a board-certified by the American Board of Toxicology, one of only 68 board-certified toxicologists working in Canada. He has also received the Chartered Directors (C.Dir.) designation from The Directors College.

Aly Damji

Managing Partner, Real Estate for Forum Asset Management

Board Member since: July 2023

Aly is Managing Partner, Real Estate for Forum Asset Management and leads the organization’s real estate businesses. He has a deep expertise in acquisitions, development and asset management across multiple asset classes including hotels, various forms of housing, retail, office and industrial. He has acquired, financed, managed and developed real estate across Canada. Aly is focused on originations and overseeing real estate investments. He leverages his exposure to a broad range of asset classes as an urban developer, institutional asset manager and operator of value add/opportunistic investments, to drive growth for Forum and its partners.

Aly has transacted and managed on behalf of several institutional, UHNW investors, and believes transparency leads to the sustainability of partnerships. Over the course of his career, Aly has been involved in $4B+ of transactions across North America and has experience managing relationships with pension funds, insurance funds, REITs, and high net worth partners.

Aly holds an MBA specialized in real estate and a bachelors degree specialized in accounting/finance, both from York University. Aly is also a board member of NAIOP Greater Toronto Chapter, one of the commercial real estate industry’s largest advocacy groups, and served as President in 2022.

Michel Eric Fournelle

Founder, The Michel Fournelle Family Foundation

Board Member since: June 2023

Michel Éric ( thereafter referred to as Eric) graduated from the University of Guelph with a Bachelor of Commerce in Hôtel and Food Administration in 1992.  He then went to work for the family business that was in the field of residential, commercial and hotel ownership.  The company was founded in 1949 and grew to be a large portfolio of 4000 apartment units, commercial and industrial real estate and two hotels. The residential portfolio was sold to Cap REIT in 2015 and the hotels were purchased by a fellow family member.

After the sale, Eric founded The Michel Fournelle Family Foundation with the goal to provide funds to organizations that excelled in helping underprivileged children. He sits on the Board of Directors of Fondation Dr Julien (social pediatrics) and Fondation Sablon (promotion of physical activity for youth) and looks forward to continuing to contribute to the Lang School.

Paul Hanna

Executive Vice-President, Member Relations, Governance & Corporate Services, The Co-operators Group

Board Member since: July 2015

Paul Hanna is Executive Vice President, Member Relations, Governance and Corporate Services for The Co-operators Group of Companies.  In his role, Paul works with the organization's member organizations to ensure strong business and governance relationships are maintained and strengthened.  Paul is also responsible for organizational governance with the Co-operators Group Limited Board of Directors and its many committees in addition to having operational oversight for several other corporate functions. Paul has 25 years of co-operative experience working in various operational and governance capacities and he currently sits as Chair of ICMIF's Intelligence Committee.

Muneer Hirji

President, 3.0 Corp

Board Member since: June 2021

After obtaining a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Guelph in 1982, Muneer went on to get an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University in 1985.  He has been involved with the technology business since then. His roles in the corporate technology world have included Vice President Marketing for SAP Canada, Vice President and General Manager for i2 Canada, and President of Hitachi Solutions Canada.  Since 2015 Muneer has been an investor in early-stage technology companies with a particular focus on Enterprise Software. He works with leadership teams in his portfolio companies to help them scale their business and realize successful exits. His volunteering activities have included participating on the Board of TechConnex, acting as a CEO mentor at Entrepreneur Organization, and being an Executive at Large at the Toronto Cloud Business Coalition. He is also a member of York Angel Investors.

Jaya James

Executive Director, HOPE House

Board Member since: June 2021

Jaya James, a lifelong Guelph resident and University of Guelph graduate, is passionate about community building and has devoted much of her time to walking with people through life’s challenges and celebrations. Jaya is the Executive Director of HOPE House a downtown Guelph organization that offers services and programs to community members experiencing poverty that allow them to maintain their dignity and choice, while simultaneously providing them with practical skills developed in a community environment. Her previous work experience includes working for the provincial government as a policy advisor where she has researched food access opportunities and challenges, and working as a commercial banker for a major commercial bank.

Jim Jarrell

President & Chief Operating Officer, Linamar Corporation

Board Member since: June 2014

Jim Jarrell joined Linamar Corporation in June 1991 as Director of Marketing. He was previously employed by Magna International in the position of Sales Manager. In November 1993, Jim accepted the position of General Manager of Linamar's Roctel division. In June 1995, Jim was promoted to Group Vice President and assumed responsibility for the start-up of Comtech Manufacturing Ltd. In 1996, as Linamar's reporting structure changed, Jim assumed responsibility for Hastech, Roctel, Comtech, Vehcom, Diversa Cast and LPP, the engine assembly plant. Jim was promoted to the position of Chief Operating Officer in September 1999 and assumed responsibility for the Linamar Sales Department in November 2003. On August 11, 2004 Jim was appointed to the position of President of Linamar Corporation in addition to his current duties.

Bill Laidlaw

President, Parkelaw Inc.

Board Member since: March 2006

Bill is an experienced business executive with an extensive background in both business and not for profit association management. Following his career in human resources Bill moved into public affairs management as Director of Government Relations with GlaxoWellcome Inc. During his ten years in this role Bill was instrumental in growing the public affairs function to be one of the leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. 

Bill moved into the world of not for profit as a CEO of St. John Ambulance, the Ontario Community Newspapers Association and the Chicken Farmers of Ontario. During this period Bill worked on contracts through his consulting firm, Parkelaw Inc. with clients such as the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Multiple Sclerosis Association of Canada and others.

Bill is a graduate of the University of Guelph, Honours BA, and he also holds a B.Ed from Queen’s University, an M.Ed from the University of Toronto and he has post graduate studies in history at Queen’s University. 

Stu Lang

Benefactor, Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics

Board Member since: April 2019

Stu Lang is a longtime Guelph-area resident and friend of U of G. Stu played professional football for eight years with the Edmonton Eskimos before joining the family business, CCL Industries. He served as U of G’s head varsity football coach for six years, compiling the best winning percentage in University history, including capturing the Yates Cup in 2015. He is now a team adviser.

In April 2019, Stu and Kim Lang donated $21-million to boost the global reputation and impact of the business school. It is the largest gift in U of G history, renaming the business school to the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, which honours Stu's late father and renowned Canadian business leader, Gordon Lang.

Barry McLean

Principal, McLean & Associates Consulting

Board Member since: August 2017

Barry McLean is Principal McLean & Associates Consulting and the former President of Canada Bread, Canada’s largest commercial bakery. Under his leadership Canada Bread doubled sales and quadrupled profits, moving from a regionally fragmented and functionally siloed organization to a national powerhouse. Prior to Canada Bread, Mr. McLean held progressive roles in product development, marketing and general management at Campbell Soup and Nabisco Canada.

Mr. McLean holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors (Rotman), MBA Marketing and Organizational Behaviour (Rotman), Honours BSc Food Science with Distinction (University of Guelph) and completed culinary training at George Brown College.

Robin-Lee Norris

President, Robin-Lee Norris & Associates

Board Member since: September 2017

Robin-Lee Norris is a graduate of the University of Guelph and Osgoode Hall Law School. She is a highly skilled mediator who brings a wealth of experience and expertise to her practice in family business succession planning, wills and estates administration, land development, and small business structures. One of Robin-Lee’s strengths is her ability to look at legal issues in a holistic manner and provide integrated advice to her clients on a broad range of topics.

Tyler Whale

President, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies

Board Member since: August 2017

Tyler was raised on a 7th generation dairy farm in Wellington County. 

After completing his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry at McMaster University in 1999, he went on to obtain a PhD in microbiology/immunology from the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization at the University of Saskatchewan in 2005.  In 2007, Tyler completed his MBA at the University of Saskatchewan, in the ‘Science to Business’ program.

With a variety of experiences in research, tech transfer, commercialization, entrepreneurship and industrial liaison, Tyler has invested his passion for agriculture into the interesting role at Ontario Agri-Food Technologies as an enabler of innovation and technology and visionary for the sector.

Harold Whiteside

Former President & CEO, Tri-Mach Group

Board Member since: March 2007

Harold Whiteside is an accomplished management consultant who has led multiple organizations throughout his career. He was previously President and CEO of Tri-Mach Group and Vice President, Finance of Samuel Strapping Systems Group, a division of Samuel, Son & Co. Prior to joining Samuel, Son & Co., Limited, he served 15 years with Hitachi Mining Trucks as Vice President and General Manager overseeing operations in Canada, Poland and India.

He completed his Management Economics degree at the University of Guelph in 1982, and earned his CMA through the University of Waterloo in 1991.

Harold is an active alumnus of the University of Guelph. His volunteer activities include several years as a director of the UGAA, as well as President in 1996-97. Harold sat as a Senator on the University of Guelph Senate from 1997-2007 and is a past Chair of the Alumni Senate Caucus.