David Johnston

David Johnston served as Governor General of Canada from 2010 to 2017. Prior to becoming Governor General, David Johnston served as the President of the University of Waterloo, one of Canada's most innovative universities and a leading global institution in e-learning and information technology. A graduate of Harvard, Cambridge and Queen's Universities, his academic specializations are securities regulation, corporate law and information technology law. He has served on many provincial and federal task forces and the boards of Canada Trust, Alcatel, Seagram, EMCO, CGI and Lifestyle Furnishings. He has chaired the Board of Overseers of Harvard University, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Neuroscience Network Centre of Excellence, the Federal Government's Information Highway Advisory Council and its Blue Ribbon Panel on Smart Communities, the National Broadband TaskForce and the national e-Business Roundtable. David Johnston is a Companion of the Order of Canada.