About
David

History

Professor David R. Beatty C.M., O.B.E., F.ICD, CFA, is Founding Chair of the David & Sharon Johnston Center for Corporate Governance Innovation and Professor Emeritus of Strategy at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.

One of the world’s most experienced corporate directors and educators, David has served as a Director on 40 boards in Canada, America, Mexico, Australia and England and been chairman of 9 public and 2 private companies.

He was the founding Managing Director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (2003-2007), an organization that today represents 50 institutional investors with ~$3 trillion of assets under management (AUM).

In 2004, he helped create and oversee the Canadian Directors’ Education Program with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), a rigorous 12-day course that has now graduated over 8,000 senior Canadian entrepreneurs, directors, and family office members. Upon graduation and the completion of both an online examination and then a simulated Board meeting, a post-nominal is bestowed – the ICD.D. David was made a Fellow of the ICD- the F.ICD – in 2012.

Overseas, he has taught in dozens of other jurisdictions. For example, From 2010 until 2017, he created and led the Directors Education Program for Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest company headquartered in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In 1994, he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for his services to Papua New Guinea. In Papua New Guinea, he was the principal economic architect for Independence in 1975. He was subsequently presented with the 30-year independence medal.

In 2012, he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee medal for his contributions to Canadian mining. In 2013, he was inducted into the Order of Canada (C.M.), the nation’s highest civilian honor. The only recipient ever to be cited for his work on Canadian Corporate governance.

In 2018, he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) a grouping of global asset managers with AUMs ~$50 trillion in 47 nations. He was only the third Canadian to be so recognised.

Attestations

“David did our most recent VIA Board Evaluation and it was a very positive and value-added activity. David’s wide experience provides insightful ideas and guidance for improving our boards’ effectiveness. I would highly recommend to other board chairs, that they leverage David’s experience as a governance and strategic advisor.”

Francoise Bertrand

VIA Rail Canada

“David was our global Governance Advisory partner and taught brilliantly at a number of our partners’ universities and for some of our clients – wonderful addition to our professional teams”

Dominic Barton

McKinsey & Company

“I worked alongside David on the Colliers Board where he chaired the Governance Committee and he “onboarded” me as a new Director: we worked closely together and I greatly valued his wisdom and business judgement.”

Stephen Harper

Colliers

“I asked David to join the Board of Canada Steamship Lines Limited, our family company, in 2005. He was a hugely value-added director for 12 years, some 7 of them as Chair of the Governance Committee. Our company and our family benefited enormously from his contributions, and I am very grateful to him.”

Paul Martin

Canada Steamship Lines Limited

“My nine colleagues and I were blessed that David created The Black North Academy following the establishment of the Black North Initiative – a bespoke combination of an Executive MBA and a Directors Education Program.”

Rosemarie Davis

Black North Initiative

"David was a great Chair at Inmet when I was its CEO. We built a wonderful relationship that endures to this day."

Jochen Tilk

Inmet

"The ICGN represents over $50tn of assets in organisations operating in over 45 nations. David is only 1 of 3 Canadians ever to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to global Corporate Governance practices."

Kerrie Warring

ICGN

"Walter Energy, which I chaired, took over Western Coal which David chaired, and he joined our board. He was an extraordinarily competent and capable director and added a lot of value to our company"

Mike Tokarz

Walter Energy

"David chaired the privatisation of all the mineral assets of Papua New Guinea and brought it public on the Australian Stock Exchange. It was an exceptional undertaking that proved to be hugely successful for all the shareholders"

Kevin McCann

Shaping Academia

For 25 years, David was a Professor of Corporate Strategy and Governance at Canada’s top-ranking business school, Rotman School of Management. Campuses across the globe have invited him to deliver his lectures on Corporate Governance.

“David’s was my best strategy course ever.”

Calvin McDonald

CEO of Lululemon, Board Director at Walt Disney

“David has been and continues to be a classroom star. He is an extraordinary communicator and a hugely empathetic and approachable individual.”

Roger Martin

Former Dean, Rotman School of Management,
University of Toronto

“I was fortunate to be a student of David’s during my Executive MBA at the Rotman School. The learnings from his class continue to guide me in my present role. He was, simply, the best Professor I have ever worked with. Happily, we still work together to this day.”

Craig Smith

COO International of Marriott Hotels
(the world’s largest hotel chain)

Professor of Corporate
Strategy & Governance

1998 – 2024

BlackNorth Academy,
Cofounding Professor

2021-2024

A pro bono management education program co-created by David and Kelly Murumets at the Rotman School, in conjunction with Wes Hall’s BlackNorth Initiative.

Educating
Global Leaders

Upper Canada College

Ocean Supercluster

IFC/World Bank
Private Sector Advisory
Group

Province of New
Brunswick Premier's
Advisory Council

Not-for-profit: AGO

David has founded and continues to lead directors programs, contributing to advanced Corporate Governance education at a global scale.

“David created then taught the Directors’ Education Program for all Aramco’s Joint Ventures globally for seven years. It was an extraordinary course that created significant long-term value for Aramco.”

Khalid D. Al-Faddagh

Former Executive Director of Internal Auditing, Saudi Aramco

Rotman and the Institute for Corporate Directors founded the Directors' Education Program

David was part of the founding team that created the Directors' Education Program (DEP). The DEP course is a rigorous 12 day programme offered in 10 top Canadian business schools across Canada. It has had over 200 offerings and graduated some 8,000 senior Canadian executives.

Founding Director

From 2010 until 2017 David created and led the Directors Education Program for Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest company in Ras Tanura, the company training facility in the Kingdom.<br><br>Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. As of 2020, it is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue.

Board Development Institute of Dubai

“Mastership in the Boardroom”

Australian Institute of Corporate Directors

“Board Fundamentals”

Fudan University, Shanghai China

Guest Lecturer, Corporate Governance

Recognition

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire Medal

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.)

For his work as economic advisor during Papua New Guinea’s transition to independence, David was made an O.B.E. at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992.