George Heller is a Canadian businessperson. He was the president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

from 1999 to 2006, when the company was acquired by

Jerry Zucker Jerry Gordon Zucker (born March 11, 1950) is an American film producer, director, and writer known for his role in directing comedy spoof films such as ''Airplane!'' and ''Top Secret!'', and the Best Picture-nominated supernatural drama film ''Gh ...

. He continued to serve as Senior Director of the Board until late 2008. He was President and CEO of the

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Committee, which organized the 1994 XV Commonwealth Games. In 1995, he became President for

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

of Bata Industries Ltd. He became President and CEO of

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

's Canadian unit in 1997. In February 1998, he became President and CEO of

Zellers Zellers was a Canadian discount department retail chain and is currently a brand name owned by the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Founded in 1931 in London, Ontario, in later decades it was based in Brampton, Ontario. Zellers was acquired by HBC i ...

and Executive Vice President of

. Heller has Honorary Doctorates from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

and

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

. He was awarded the

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

from the Government of Canada for service to his country. Recently elected to the Canadian Retail Hall of Fame, Heller is also a Board Member and Chair of the Investment Committee, Asia Pacific Foundation in Vancouver. He serves on several Boards, including Gildan Activewear. In August 2014, he was presented the Governor General's Sovereign Medal. He was appointed Honorary Consul General of Thailand in 2007 and has served as Honorary Trade Advisor to the Government of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

since 2000. In 2013, he was awarded the Jan Masaryk Silver Medal by the Government of the Czech Republic. In September 2016, he was appointed as Commander, Most Noble Order of the Crown of Thailand by the Government of Thailand.

References

HBC profile
Living people Canadian businesspeople Hudson's Bay Company people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-business-bio-stub, Heller, George