The President and Vice-Chancellor of Concordia University, Judith Woodsworth, has been named by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) to this year’s list of “Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100”.
Woodsworth’s talents and career successes earned her a top spot in the Public Sector Leaders category. She will be recognized, along with the other award winners, at a special ceremony this evening, November 30, 2009, in Toronto.
The ceremony will close Canada’s Most Powerful Women Summit which offers women managers and executives from across Canada the opportunity to meet award winners and participate in a day of professional development.
“I am deeply honoured to be recognized by an organization that celebrates the achievements of Canadian women in such a wide array of sectors,” says Woodsworth. “I am particularly delighted to be part of this effort to inspire and encourage women to aim for leadership roles, whatever their chosen field of endeavor.”
Woodsworth took up her current post at Concordia in August, 2008, and immediately undertook the development of a 5-year strategic plan to make Concordia one of Canada’s top 5 comprehensive universities. Prior to her return to Concordia, where she began her career as an academic and administrator in 1980, she was President of Laurentian University in Sudbury and had previously held the position of Vice-President (Academic) at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.
Woodsworth’s academic work includes numerous conference presentations and publications in the fields of French literature and translation studies. She is currently on the Board of Directors of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and Montréal International. She is also Vice-President of the Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities (CREPUQ).
Beyond her academic achievements, Woodsworth has also served the wider community in several significant ways. She is a member of the International Women’s Forum, the pre-eminent resource for top female leaders around the world. In September, she was invited to address the 4th World Women University Presidents Forum, in Nanjing (PRC).
Woodsworth was founding president of the Canadian Association for Translation Studies and is a member of the Literary Translators’ Association of Canada. Woodsworth was inducted as an Officer in the Ordre de la Pléiade for her work in promoting the French language and intercultural relations. She is also a proud mother and grandmother.
Women’s Executive Network is Canada’s leading and most influential organization dedicated to the advancement and recognition of executive-minded women in the workplace. WXN delivers networking, mentoring, professional and personal development to support and recognize executive-minded women and their organizations in pursuit of excellence.
For more information, visit the Media Relations website.
Read the interview with Judith Woodsworth in the Globe and Mail article Leading the next generation.
Rita de Santis, a member and former Vice-Chair of Concordia’s Board of Governors, and Partner, Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, LLP, has also been named to this year’s list of “Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100” (Trailblazers & Trendsetters). View the full list of 2009 recipients (PDF).
Posted on November 30, 2009
