Heather Munroe-Blum

"HMB" redirects here. For other uses, see HMB (disambiguation).

Heather Anne Elyse Lilian Munroe-Blum, OC, OQ, FRSC (born August 25, 1950) is the principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Royal Bank of Canada, and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Academic life and early career

Munroe-Blum at 2007 Spring Convocation at McGill University

Munroe-Blum was born in Montreal and raised in Ontario. She received her B.A. and B.S.W. from McMaster University, M.S.W. from Wilfrid Laurier University, and Ph.D from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to her appointment as principal of McGill, she was a professor at York University, McMaster University, and the University of Toronto, where she later served as the vice-president of research and international relations) between 1994 and 2002. In January 2003, Munroe-Blum replaced outgoing principal Bernard Shapiro as McGill's principal, becoming the first woman to occupy the position.

Trained as an epidemiologist, Munroe-Blum has led large-scale epidemiological investigations related to psychiatric disorders. She is the author or co-author of over 60 scholarly publications, including four books. She has served on the board of directors of the Medical Research Council of Canada (now the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) as well as on international reviews of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Mental Health (USA).

Awards and recognition

Munroe-Blum has received many accolades from the academic community including honorary degrees from the Université de Montréal, University of Edinburgh, the University of Toronto, Wilfrid Laurier University, and École Normale Supérieure de Lyon. She is also an officer of the Order of Canada and fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2009, she was made an officer of the National Order of Quebec.

She is married to screenwriter Len Blum. They have one daughter.

Sources

• Biography from the McGill University Administration and Governance site
• Brief biography from the Canadian Olympic Committee
• Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry
• [1]
• Board of Directors and Committee Memberships of RBC