Hélène Desmarais (born in 1965) is a Canadian businesswoman and is a member of a number of boards and committees in the public and private sectors, including president of the board of directors of

HEC Montréal HEC Montréal (french: École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal) is a public Canadian business school located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1907, HEC Montréal is the graduate business school of the Université de Montréa ...

Biography

Desmarais is a graduate of business administration from

. She also studied at

Sciences Po , motto_lang = fr , mottoeng = Roots of the Future , type = Public university, Public research university''Grande école'' , established = , founder = Émile Boutmy , a ...

in Paris, studied art history at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

in London and history of architecture at the New York School of Design. Desmarais has contributed to developing technology companies since 1996 as the founder, chair of the board and chief executive officer of the Montréal Centre for Enterprise and Innovation (CEIM), the first technology incubator and consulting service of its kind. Desmarais chaired a provincial committee to study the healthcare industry (1997), was made a member of the board of HEC Montréal in 1999 and became its chair in 2003. Desmarais also chairs the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Medicine Advisory Committee (from 2006), and sits on the boards of Christian Dior SA (from 2012), Garda World Security (2006), and Génome Québec (2002) and was governor of the International Economic Forum of the Americas. In 2009, she was appointed by Health Minister

Yves Bolduc Yves Bolduc (born March 6, 1957 in Alma, Quebec) is a Canadian doctor and politician in the province of Quebec. He was named the new Minister of Health and Social Services of Quebec on June 25, 2008 succeeding Philippe Couillard who resigned on ...

to the board of directors of the

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal The Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM, translated as University of Montreal Health Centre) is one of two major healthcare networks in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It is a teaching institution affiliated with the French-lang ...

(CHUM), one of the largest hospitals in Canada. In 2010 she was awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and was named to the . In June 2013 she received the title of Officer of the

Ordre national du Québec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gov ...

Distinctions

*2002 Golden Jubilee Medal *2007 Order of Merit, Université de Montréal *2009 Honorary Doctorate, Université Lumière Lyon 2 *2009 Honorary Doctorate, St Francis Xavier University *2009 Medal of Honour, Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Medicine *2010 Member of the Order of Canada *2010 Grands Montréalais, Chambre de commerce du Montréal Métropolitain *2010 Prix entrepreneurship of Conseil du Patronat du Québec *2012 Golden Jubilee Medal *2013 Officer of l'Ordre national du Québec *2016 Commander of the Order of Montreal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desmarais, Helene 1955 births Living people French Quebecers Members of the Order of Canada Officers of the National Order of Quebec HEC Montréal alumni Helene