Dr. Richard Florizone Named the 2013 Winner of the Gil Bennett Governance Award

TORONTO, March 5, 2013 /CNW/ - Dr. Richard Florizone, currently the Vice-President, Finance and Resources at the University of Saskatchewan and incoming President of Dalhousie University, is the 2013 recipient of the Gil Bennett Gold Standard Award.

Presented annually by The Directors College, the award recognizes a graduate of the Chartered Director (C. Dir.) program who demonstrates dedication to raising the bar for professional standards in corporate governance. The award was presented Monday at the graduation ceremony for newly-certified Chartered Directors. Daniel Johnson of McCarthy Tétrault, a former Premier of the Province of Québec, was the featured speaker at the ceremony.

"Effective governance of both public and private institutions is critical to society," says Dr. Florizone, recipient of this year's Gil Bennett Gold Standard Award. "It is a great honour to receive this award on the 10th anniversary of the Directors College and to share it with so many talented past graduates that are making a positive difference to governance standards in Canada."

The Directors College is marking its 10^th anniversary this year. Founded in 2003, The Directors College is a joint venture of McMaster University and The Conference Board of Canada, and is Canada's first university-accredited corporate director development program.

Dr. Florizone will become the 11th President of Dalhousie University in Halifax on July 1, 2013. Since 2005, he has served as the Vice-President of Finance and Resources at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Florizone served as Director, Strategic Initiatives at Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal, and as Consultant and Project Leader with the Boston Consulting Group in Toronto. Dr. Florizone obtained his PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Named in honour of former Canadian Tire chairman Gil Bennett, the Gold Standard Award has been presented annually since 2006 to a graduate of The Directors College. Previous winners include Don McCreesh, Michael MacBean, Andy Poprawa, John Ryan, Jim Adamson and Reena Sagoo.

"To win the Gil Bennett Award, our Chartered Directors have to demonstrate that they possess more than just the technical and legal knowledge to be a director in the 21st century. They also need to show how to achieve excellence in the boardroom through a great boardroom culture," said Chris Bart, Principal & Lead Professor, The Directors College.

The criteria for the award include placing in the top 10 per cent on the final exam for Chartered Directors; providing leadership during class discussions; and making a unique contribution to the Board Simulation exercise of the Chartered Director program.

For more information on The Directors College and its Chartered Director Program, visit: www.thedirectorscollege.com.

SOURCE: The Directors College

Brent Dowdall, Media Relations, Tel.: [phone] ext. 448
E-mail: [email protected]