Martha Piper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Martha C. Piper, D.Sc (honoris causa), LL.D (honoris causa) was the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. She held the position since 1997 and was the 11th person and the first woman to do so. Having been born in Lorain, Ohio, she is also the first person born outside of Canada to have held the position, although she has Canadian citizenship and was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2002. Her contract with UBC stipulated a salary of $350,000 plus incentive payments of up to $50,000 per year upon meeting the performance goals set by the Board of Governors.[1]

Stephen Toope replaced Piper as president of the University of British Columbia on July 1, 2006.

Contents

[edit] Education and career

Piper holds a B.Sc. in Physical Therapy from the University of Michigan (1967), an M.A. in Child Development from the University of Connecticut (1970) and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University (1979). After her Ph.D., Piper was the director of McGill's School of Physical and Occupational Therapy until 1985 when she became the dean of the University of Alberta's Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. In 1993 she was made the same university's vice president of Research, and also External Affairs starting in 1995. Upon becoming President of UBC in 1997, Piper inherited a strong record of external fundraising and research development by her predecessor, David Strangway. She was able to cash in on significant federal government reinvestment in research and innovation, effectively using UBC's position as the largest university in British Columbia (and Western Canada) to attract large amounts of government and private sector funding. While building this research legacy, she has also left a legacy of debt for her successor, Stephen Toope.[citation needed]

[edit] Trilateral Commission

The Georgia Straight reported on August 24, 2006 that Martha Piper has become a member of the Trilateral Commission, an organization of influential private citizens founded in 1973 at the initiative of banker David Rockefeller. She joins current members Richard Perle, former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, and former Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo. Past members include Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Graham. Piper's association with the Commission has garnered significant controversy.[citation needed]

[edit] Academic honours and awards

B.Sc. degree with academic distinction; Mortar Board; Health Student Ph.D. Fellowship, Health and Welfare Canada

D.Sc. (Honorary), May 1998, McGill University

LL.D. (Honorary), May 1999, Dalhousie University

LL.D. (Honorary), November 2001, University of Toronto

D.Sc. (Honorary), October 2002, University of Western Ontario

LL.D. (Honorary), December 2003, the University of Melbourne

LL.D. (Honorary), October 2005, the University of Saskatchewan

LL.D. (Honorary), June 2006, University of Alberta

LL.D. (Honorary), June 2006, University of Victoria

[edit] External links

Georgia Straight, August 24, 2006

Academic offices
Preceded by
David Strangway		 President of the University of British Columbia
1997–2006		 Succeeded by
Stephen Toope