Media Release - For Immediate Release
February 16, 2012
SMART Technologies CEO to be Inducted into Hall of Leadership
Dragon Arlene Dickinson to Speak
Nancy Knowlton, CEO of SMART Technologies will be inducted into the Turning Points Hall of Leadership March 22. 
Arlene Dickinson,CEO of Venture Communications and co-star of CBC's Gemini award-winning Dragons' Den, will share the moments in her career that have been life-changing. |
A Saint Mary's grad whose inventions have been transforming the classroom for a decade will be inducted into the Turning Points Hall of Leadership during a dinner at Saint Mary’s University on March 22.
Nancy Knowlton (DComm '03, MBA '78) President and CEO of SMART Technologies, will be recognized at the 7th Annual Turning Points in Leadership Dinner for her entrepreneurial prowess and her commitment to the community.
The event will be hosted by Arlene Dickinson, one of Canada’s most renowned independent marketing communications entrepreneurs. As a panelist on CBC's Gemini award-winning Dragons' Den, Dickinson has a successful track record of picking companies on the rise and her sharp instincts for emerging trends has helped boost interest in entrepreneurship across Canada. Dickinson's presentation will focus on the watershed moments in her career when she could have taken a different road.
Born in Quebec, Knowlton attended Bishop's University where she graduated at the top of her class in business and led the women's basketball team to appearances at the two CIAU national championship.
Moving to Halifax, she pursued her MBA at Saint Mary’s but she also continued with basketball, earning scoring titles and was named Athlete of the Year.
She briefly taught accounting and computer science at the university before co-founding SMART Technologies in 1987 with her husband David Martin.
Since then she has been instrumental in growing SMART from a start-up with the idea for an interactive whiteboard to a public company with almost US$800 million of annual revenue. SMART’s products are used in primary and secondary classrooms around the world and by some of the world’s leading corporations.
She has received numerous awards, including Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year.
Dickinson, ranked by Profit magazine as one of Canada's Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs for seven years running, is considered one of the most powerful female business leaders in Canada. She is owner and CEO of Venture Communications, a leading national marketing firm. She is the recipient of the prestigious Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, has been named one of Chatelaine's TOP 100 Women Business Owners, and was awarded the 2011 WIFTS Lifetime Achievement Award. Dickinson has also been inducted into Canada's Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame.
A mother of four children and a grandmother of three, Dickinson also lends her time, skills and leadership to benefit the industry and community. Over the years she has served on various boards including the co-chair for the National Board for Kids Help Phone and the chair of Ad Rodeo. Dickinson sits on the Advisory Committee of the Stratford Institute at the University of Waterloo and the Editorial Advisory Board of Marketing Magazine. She is also the national spokesperson for the Breakfast Clubs of Canada.
Created in 2007 by the Saint Mary’s University Alumni Association, the Turning Points Hall of Leadership Award honours individuals who exemplify outstanding commitment in leadership to Saint Mary’s University, to business, to the community, and in life.
Members of the Hall include: Richard Homburg, Chairman of the Homburg Group of Companies (2011); Fred Smithers, President of Iona Resources Holdings (2010), Mickey MacDonald, President and CEO of Micco Group of Companies Limited (2009) ; the late Robert (Bob) Shaw, former President, Chairman and Director of The Shaw Group Ltd (2008); David Sobey, Chairman Emeritus of Sobeys Inc. and Paul Sobey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Empire Company Limited (2007). The Turning Points in Leadership dinner is an annual event where successful leaders come to the Saint Mary’s campus to share their distinct, individual perspectives on turning points in their careers and how they have evolved as leaders.
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For More Information:
Steve Proctor
External Affairs
Saint Mary's University
(902) 420.5513
E-mail: steve.proctor@smu.ca
www.smu.ca
This page last modified Wednesday, 07-Mar-2012 17:21:56 AST