Larry Hachey (BBA ’87) is the president of Canlease and the past chair of the UNB Board of Governors, serving two terms as chair (the second term ended on June 30, 2021). He is also a member of the Faculty of Management Advisory Board; past president of UNB’s Associated Alumni; member of the UNB Saint John Alumni Action Team; former president of the UNB Saint John Student Representative Council (SRC); and member of the Hans Khlon Commons and It Begins Here campaign cabinets. He also established the Larry & Donna Hachey Bursary.
His affiliations include former president and CEO of Bluechip Leasing Atlantic; former sales manager of Bruncor Leasing, a spin-off company from NBTel (later part of Aliant); former chair and vice-chair of the Board of Directors for Saint John Airport; former president of the Teen Resource Centre; and former director of Horizon Health Network. He has also been affiliated with Economic Development Greater Saint John, Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce and Credit Counselling Services of Atlantic Canada. In 2022, he was named a finalist in the Ernst & Young Atlantic Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2003 he received the Saint John Board of Trade Entrepreneurial Achievement Award. In 2009, he was the recipient of the New Brunswick Merit Award for Community Service.
Roxanne is co-President and co-owner of Innovatia Inc., a global knowledge management company providing software and services to Fortune 100 and 500 companies. Headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Innovatia also has offices in Calgary, Alberta and Bangalore, India. Roxanne and Dave purchased Innovatia in 2009, under their leadership Innovatia has since grown by 350%.
Roxanne has served on the University of New Brunswick’s Board of Governors since 2003, serving on and Chairing most Board Committees as well as Board Chair for a 2-year term. She was the second female Chair in UNB’s 150-year history. In addition to her years of service to the University of New Brunswick, Roxanne’s interest in education has also forged a partnership between Innovatia and the Elementary Literacy Friends (ELF) program, which focuses on increasing literacy throughout the province by providing volunteer tutors to Grade 2 students. She currently is Chair of ELF. Roxanne is also Chair of Achieve Literacy Greater Saint John, with a special focus on gathering the needed resources and strategies for Kindergarten to Grade 2 students to ensure that 90% of children are reading at grade level. She is a member of the Leadership Board for BCAPI the Saint John Business Anti-Poverty Initiative, and most recent past Co-Chair of the Executive Committee.
As the inaugural Chairperson of both Facilicorp and Opportunities New Brunswick she played key roles in new strategic shifts in both these New Brunswick provincial government services. Facilicorp was created to amalgamate all IT and non-clinical shared services from seven Regional Health Authorities across the province with annualized savings of $20 million in the first 5 years of operations. Opportunities New Brunswick brought 3 Provincial Business Development agencies together to drive economic development and Job creation. Roxanne has also served as a director of Brunswick Pipeline − an Emera company, LearnSphere Canada, and is a founding member of Propel ICT, a group of Saint John business people (led by Gerry Pond) driving the I.T. and communications sector within the city. In 2011, Roxanne took on the role of Chair of Future Growth Greater Saint John, a group of more than 30 Saint John business owners and executives, who banded together to drive economic development in the Saint John community. As an off-shoot Roxanne formally sat as Chair of the Enterprise Saint John Board of Directors for their initial first year in the renewal strategy.
Roxanne is one of the founding members of the Women for 50%, a group of New Brunswick female leaders whose goal is gender parity and equality in the New Brunswick legislature.
In 2014 Roxanne was inducted into the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame and received the Order of New Brunswick. In 2018 Roxanne was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. Roxanne was also named one of the Atlantic region’s 50 most accomplished business executives by Atlantic Business Magazine in 2005, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. She has also been named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2013 for the Atlantic Region. Roxanne has recently been recognized as one of Atlantic Canada’s 25 most powerful women in business by Atlantic business Magazine.
Roxanne, along with her business partner, Dave Grebenc, leads a workforce that has grown to employ over 600 people: a significant percentage work within the province of New Brunswick.
Roxanne has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. She has also received an honorary Doctorate of Letters Degree from the University of New Brunswick in May of 2018.
Dr. Geoff Flood (DLitt ’16) is the technology advisory leader of MNP Digital in Atlantic Canada and is founder and ceo of Parasox Ltd. Geoff has a bachelor of arts in economics from St. Francis Xavier University and a master of business administration in finance from Queen’s University. He is a past member of the New Brunswick Business Council; a mentor for Creative Destructive Lab (Atlantic); co-founder and former owner of T4G Limited; past board member and evaluator for Canada’s Ocean Supercluster and is a current board member of FamilyPlus Life Solutions. He is founder of the Atlantic Big Data Congress, and past chairman for the Cathedral Heritage Foundation Inc.
Geoff is also past president of New Brunswick Information Technology Council (now called Tech Impact); co-chairman of the Premiers Advisory Council on Technology; and founder and member of Future Focus Foundation which backs organizations with a track record of helping children succeed. The foundation’s fundraising efforts have benefitted organizations such as Pathways to Education, Portage, and the Hospital for Sick Children. Other positions include past chief information officer and vice-president of Dylex Limited and past information systems officer for George Weston Limited.
A member of the National Sales Office Executive at BDO Canada LLP, Steph Fox (BBA'04) leverages the skills and expertise of all service lines to drive growth across Atlantic Canada. Additionally, she is a leading member of BDO's Women Driving Growth, a national initiative aimed at accelerating growth of women-founded, owned or managed businesses.
Prior to joining BDO, Steph combined her ambitions in business with her desire to positively impact the lives of others by focusing her earlier career in philanthropy. Results-focused with a passion for supporting organizations through transformation, Steph is a seasoned professional with 15+ years of experience leading strategy and operations in the non-profit sector.
A life-long learner, Steph graduated from United Way Worldwide’s Global Resident Fellows Program, completed leadership studies through Stanford University, and is certified in Change Management. She holds her CFRE designation, was internationally recognized in the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy Top 40 Under 40 Class and completed graduate studies in Social Responsibility & Sustainability through University of Toronto.
Originally from Fredericton and residing in Rothesay, Steph is proud to live, work, and actively contribute to her home-province of New Brunswick. In addition to serving her alma mater’s Integrated Health Initiative, she supports youth in building entrepreneurship skills and financial literacy as a board member of Junior Achievement New Brunswick. Her life-long love of skiing also motivates her to contribute to both the mountain and ski racing communities through her director roles on both the Crabbe Mountain and Crabbe Mountain Race Club Boards.
Tom Gribbons (BSF ’83) is the senior portfolio manager and investment advisor at RBC Dominion Securities and the chair of UNB’s Board of Governors. He is also a former member of the UNB Saint John Commons Advisory Committee; a board member for the Saint John Airport (appointed March 7, 2022); and a member and past chair of the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI), an organization dedicated to reducing the level of poverty in Greater Saint John.
He also served as past director of the Greater Saint John Community Foundation and Enterprise Saint John and was a former chair of the Saint John Board of Trade.
In October 2010, Tom received the UNB’s Alumni Award of Distinction.
Dana Hanson (BSc’70, MD’74, FRCPS Derm, DSc’10) is a retired dermatologist, former president of the Canadian Medical Association and World Medical Association.
Dana Hanson has been an advocate for the medical profession and patients provincially, nationally and internationally.
As a dermatologist, he championed physician health and medical ethics as head of many professional associations. As president of the Canadian Medical Association, he was instrumental in establishing the Centre for Physician Health and Well-Being, which provides education, research and coordination in this area. Dana also steered the World Medical Association, providing guidance to physicians internationally on patient rights and medical ethics.
In his community he has been a strong supporter the arts community as well as various initiatives focusing on the Social Determinants of Health.
Charlie Harling, ICD.D (BBA ‘85) is the founder and CEO of Harling Management Group Ltd.; the chair of the advisory board for Canadian Health Solutions; and a past board member and chair of the governance and nominations committee for the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC).
He also has a bachelor of arts in economics from St. Thomas University (1984). Charlie is a founder of the board and executive committee for the Greater Saint John Economic Council; a member of the Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative (BCAPI); a founding board member of the New Brunswick Information Technology Council; a former vice president of business sales, Atlantic for Bell; a former vice president of business sales, vice president of enterprise sales, director of sales for new business ventures for Bell Aliant; and director of sales NB with Aliant Telecom Inc.
Other affiliations include board member of Enterprise Saint John; former director of business development, e-plicity, former VP and co-founder of Dolphin e-Business, a CRM solutions company; former director of sales of Connectivity (a division of NBTel); and former economic development advisor, Government of New Brunswick, reporting to then Premier, Frank McKenna.
Brian is the president of Field Aerospace Canada.
Brian is a growth driven executive with extensive experience in international sales, contract negotiations and business operations. Brian practiced corporate commercial law prior to joining the contracts department at Bombardier Aerospace in 2000. In 2005, he became the director of legal and corporate contracts at Field Aviation.
He was promoted to vice-president of operations in 2008, responsible for engineering, production, procurement, program management and contracts teams, and then to chief commercial officer in 2012. In 2016 he was named chief operation officer of Field Aviation’s Canadian multi-site aircraft modification and manufacturing operation. In 2018 he became Chief Commercial Officer of Field Aerospace Global. In July of 2022 he was named President of Field Aerospace Canada.
John Runcie, MM, CCLP (BA ’12) is the director of commercial development and port facilities for Port Saint John, a former director and chair of the Saint John Arts Centre, a member of the Maritime Economic Development committee for the American Association of Port Authorities and director of the Place Fort La Tour.
A former senior development officer with UNB’s office of development and donor relations, John has also served as manager of business development for PathFive (a cloud-based platform designed for education and local government) and as contract buyer and supply chain associate for J.D. Irving, Limited.
While a student at UNB Saint John, John was VP external for the students’ representative council and a member of the history society, the political science society and the student volunteer unit. In 2012, he received the UNB Associated Alumni Student Leader Award.
In addition to his UNB degree, John holds a master of management from the University of British Columbia and a professional designation in logistics from CITT.
In conjunction with his wife Laura (BN ’13), he co-founded the John and Laura Runcie Co-op Bursary at UNB.
Dr. Ruth Shaw (BDA/BSDA ’80, MScCS ‘86, PhD.CS ’94) is a professor emerita in computer science (2020) and served two terms as dean of science, applied science and engineering on UNB’s Saint John campus from 2008 to 2016.
Her accomplishments include the expansion of the department of nursing and health sciences and the department of biological sciences and the department of mathematics and statistics; the alignment of undergraduate computer science degree programs between campuses; Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission approval for the Data Analytics Certificate; and successful applications for Canada Research Chairs (I and II), as well as Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Jarislowsky chair positions.
She was also the chief coordinator of the highly successful New Brunswick High School Programming Competition; a tireless and selfless advocate championing Computer Science and STEM disciplines, including a National SERC WISE Atlantic workshop for female faculty; and project lead for health research and programming initiatives at UNB Saint John. Ruth is particularly adept in stakeholder engagement and her ability to reach out and establish new partnerships has been a tremendous resource for the campus.
Other projects include the UNB Saint John Academic Plan Subcommittee Report on Health Initiatives; the establishment of the bi-campus graduate academic unit in health; the development of a proposal for a Health Research Institute on the UNB Saint John campus and a new NB-IRDT / RDC site at UNB Saint John. Ruth is also a mentor with the Computer Research Association (CRA).
Brendan Sheehan, BSC, MD, FRCSC, Dip.Sport.Med.
Dr. Brendan Sheehan was born and raised in Saint John, NB. After completing a Bachelor of Science at UNB, he went on to obtain his medical degree from Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland. He then completed his Orthopaedic residency training at the University of Calgary.
He completed subspecialty training in Orthopaedic Sports Medicine at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, under the mentorship of Drs. Robert McCormack and Farhad Moola. During his time in Vancouver, he developed expertise in minimally invasive arthroscopic and open reconstructive surgery of the knee and shoulder. He also solidified his skills in the treatment of the injured athlete as one of the team physicians for the BC Lions, Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada Games, Karate Canada, Alpine Canada and Simon Fraser University. He completed his Diploma in Sports Medicine through the Canadian Academy of Sports and Exercise Medicine in 2017.
Brendan accepted a position in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Saint John in September 2015 and is an assistant professor with the faculty of medicine at both Dalhousie and Memorial Universities.
Active in research involving the treatment of early arthritis, surgical outcomes in knee/shoulder reconstruction, and development of treatment guidelines, his research has been presented and published both nationally and internationally. He is integrally involved in the Canadian Orthopaedic Association and is a member of the executive committee for the Arthroscopy Association of Canada.
Brendan’s practice is specialized in orthopaedic sports medicine and knee/shoulder reconstructive surgery, including joint replacement. His focus is on minimally invasive arthroscopic techniques. In his free time, he is active in skiing, surfing, kiteboarding, mountain biking and enjoying time with his family.
Li Song (BA/BEd ’08) is an entrepreneur and Realtor with EXIT (Realty Specialists). She serves on many boards and has received the UNB U35 Young Alumni spotlight, the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award from the City of Saint John, the YMCA Red Triangle Award and the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
Her UNB involvement includes being a student leader facilitator with Saint John College; vice president internal with the Students’ Representative Council; professor’s assistant with the social science department; and student assistant with the (former) Ward Chipman Library. Li serves on the Board of Directors for Imperial Theatre; a former committee member with the Asian Heritage Society of New Brunswick, Saint John Chapter; former board member for the Saint John Free Public Library; past program coordinator for the Summer Reading Club in the Saint John Free Public Library; and a volunteer with the Greater Saint John Chinese Cultural Society.
In 2010 she was named a New Brunswick Global Youth Ambassador by the Canadian International Development Agency.
To learn more about the Integrated Health Initiative, or connect with our campaign leaders, contact Heather Campbell.