Ann McCaig Honorary Chair

As the Honorary Chair of the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute, Ann is committed to continuing the work of her late husband, J.R. (Bud) McCaig, who founded the Institute in 2004 with a donation of $10 million. Ann and Bud were married for 21 years and shared a vision to build a world-class health and medical system in Calgary.

Ann is well-known for her commitment to the not-for-profit sector and, in particular, her passion for youth, education and health. She is the Chair of the Calgary Health Trust, the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre (AARC) and the Calgary Stampede Foundation. She is also Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Calgary, a Trustee of the $400-million Killam Estate, and a Director of the Gairdner Foundation.

Over the past two decades, Ann has led several large capital campaigns for major institutions in Calgary. She was Co-chair of the Alberta Children’s Hospital campaign, helping to raise more than $52 million to build a state-of-the-art pediatric facility in Calgary, and chaired a campaign that raised $9.6 million for AARC.

Ann is a Member of the Order of Canada and has received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta. She is one of the inaugural recipients of the University of Calgary Education Partnership Award and was recognized by the University of Saskatchewan with an Alumni Humanitarian Award. She has received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Award, the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Award, the Alberta Order of Excellence, the Alberta Centennial Award, the Rotary Integrity Award, the Paul Harris Fellowship Rotary International Award, the YWCA Woman of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Award of Exceptional Recognition from Calgary’s Chief of Police. In June 2012, Ann received the Grant MacEwan Lifetime Achievement Award from the City of Calgary in honour of her contributions to the community.

Ian Robinson Chair

Ian has been Chair of the Institute’s Board of Directors since its inception in 2004.  He assumed this position after serving as Treasurer and a Director of the Western Orthopaedic and Arthritis Research Foundation, the predecessor to the Institute, for 15 years.

Ian is Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Bow City Power Ltd.  He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta and the Canadian Tax Foundation.

He has served on various committees of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, the Independent Petroleum Association, and Social Venture Partners, which applies a venture capital model to philanthropy.

Dr. Don Dick Co-Vice Chair

As a founding member of the Institute, Don has played a significant role in establishing the Institute as the catalyst for a better way to deliver public health care to Albertans suffering from bone and joint disorders.

An orthopaedic surgeon, Don is active in medical practice, teaching and professional service.

He specializes in adult joint arthroplasty (repair and replacement of joints) and in general paediatric orthopaedics (treatment of musculoskeletal disorders in children).  Located in Edmonton, he is Medical Lead for Orthopaedics and Medical Director of the Bone and Joint Program for Alberta Health Services Edmonton.

He is Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery at the University of Alberta.  He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association and is Past-President of the Alberta Orthopaedic Society.

Debby Carlson

Debby is an Alberta business executive and former member of Alberta's legislature whose community service interests extend across public health care, education and women's issues.

She entered provincial politics in 1993, winning three consecutive terms in office and serving for 11 years as the member for Edmonton Ellerslie.

Debby is a partner in M.B. Percy Consulting, providing management consulting services. She is also vice-president of Trilogy Ventures Corp., and serves on the Edmonton Board of Advisors for Leger Marketing. She is Chair of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, Chair of the foundation's External Relations Committee, and Chair of Major Gifts for the Lois Hole Hospital fundraising campaign.

Debby supports the international training programs of the University of Alberta School of Business, speaking to international students at universities in China, Siberia and Kazakhstan. She is also a founding member of the Edmonton Women's Policy Association.

In 2005, Debby was awarded the Golden Jubilee Medal and the Alberta Centennial Medal in recognition of her public and community service. She is also a recipient of the Bill Lloyd Community Service Award and the EWLPA Women of Distinction Award.

Joanne Cuthbertson

Joanne is a philanthropist, volunteer, mentor and unrelenting advocate of young people, public education and quality of life in the community.

She has pursued her interest in these areas through her work with the University of Calgary, SPEAK, EducationMatters, Glenbow Museum, Hull Child and Family Services, United Way of Calgary and Area, Prairieaction Foundation, and the UNICEF Regional Advisory Council.

From 2006 to 2010, Joanne was chancellor of the University of Calgary, where her legacy is the Chancellor Cuthbertson Student Success Centre, a learning and resource facility, and the Scholars’ Academy Program, which offers support and guidance to help top students achieve their potential.

Joanne continues her association with the University of Calgary as Chancellor Emeritus through the Faculty of Education, as co-chair of the Calgary Consortium for Peace Studies, and as a founding member of both the Dean’s Circle in the Faculty of Environmental Design and the advisory committee for the O’Brien Centre for the Bachelor of Health Sciences Program.

Her work has been recognized with several awards. Joanne received the Calgary Award in Education for 1997, the year she founded SPEAK (Support Public Education-Act for Kids). In 2008, she was awarded the Calgary Board of Education’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and in 2011, she received an honorary degree from the University of Calgary and the first annual Distinguished Alumni of the Year from the Faculty of Education.

Joanne currently serves as a director of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation and is on the Glenbow Museum’s Development Committee.

Jack Donald

Jack is an entrepreneur and volunteer who has served the Red Deer community and the Province of Alberta in numerous capacities.

He built Parkland Industries Ltd. into a petroleum marketing and distribution chain spanning western and northern Canada with 445 retail locations, a trucking fleet and a refinery before retiring as President and CEO in 2002. He is now Chairman emeritus of the Board of Parkland Fuel Corp., the successor company to Parkland Industries.

Jack is also Chairman emeritus of Canadian Western Bank and Canadian Western Trust and is a director of Kingsmere Resources Inc.  

Among his community activities, he is a member of the Westerner Exposition Association and of the Rotary Club of Red Deer.  Jack and his wife, Joan, have led fundraising campaigns for Red Deer College, STARS Air Ambulance, the Westerner and the Red Deer Hospice. He has served on Red Deer City council (two terms), on the Board of Governors of Red Deer College, as Chair of the Alberta Opportunity Company, and as a public member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta.  Jack was Chair of the 1994 Alberta Tax Reform Commission and was Co-Chair of the 1998 Personal Income Tax Review Committee and the 2000 Alberta Business Tax Review Commission.

Jack's business and community activities were recognized in 2002 when he was inducted into the Canadian Petroleum Hall of Fame and was named Red Deer Citizen of the Year. In 2007, Jack and Joan were named Red Deer’s Corporate Citizens of the year, and in 2011 they became the first Entrepreneurs in Residence at Red Deer College’s Donald School of Business. Also in 2011, Jack was named a Calgary Business Hall of Fame Laureate.

Roger Palmer

Roger has had a distinguished career in education and in the Alberta public service, serving in the position of Deputy Minister in four departments, including Health and Wellness. He is currently Director of the MBA Public Management stream at the University of Alberta School of Business.

He was appointed Deputy Minister of Alberta Education in 1998 following a career as a teacher and school administrator. The next year, the Department of Innovation and Science was formed and Roger was named Deputy Minister. While there, he created Alberta SuperNet, a broadband Internet protocol network linking 420 communities and connecting all hospitals, schools and government offices.

Roger moved in 2001 to Alberta Environment where, as Deputy Minister, he put in place the process that led to the province’s water strategy, Water for Life, and served for two years as president of the Clean Air Strategic Alliance.

He was appointed Deputy Minister of Alberta Health and Wellness in 2002.  During his two-year tenure, Roger focused his efforts on improving health information and health care delivery.  He was instrumental in creating the provincial on-line Waitlist Registry and the first provincial electronic health record in Canada.  He also negotiated the agreement with physicians and health authorities that created Primary Care Networks to modernize family medicine in Alberta.

Roger received the Institute of Public Administration of Canada 2004 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration. He is also a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and the Alberta Centennial Medal.