Maple Leaf Award of Distinction Recipient for 2024
P. Thomas Jenkins
OC, CD, BVO, CBHF, QJDM, FCAE, PhD, DSc, LLD, MBA, MASc, B Eng&Mgt
Chair, Open Text Corporation
Chair, First Ascent Ventures
Tom Jenkins has been active for more than 40 years in innovation and economic development in both the private and public sectors. At the beginning of the commercial web, he was instrumental in the creation of one of the world’s first search
engines working with Netscape and the Microsoft Network as well as the creation of technologies used within organizations to manage their web-based content.
Mr. Jenkins is currently Chair of OpenText™ Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX, TSX: OTC) of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, a multinational enterprise software firm and one of the largest software and cloud computing companies in the world. He is also
the Chair of First Ascent Ventures, a venture capital fund. Mr. Jenkins is past Chair of the World Wide Web Foundation, and the founding Chair of the National Research Council of Canada. Mr. Jenkins was the tenth Chancellor of the University
of Waterloo.
Mr. Jenkins has also served as a board member of Manulife Financial Corporation. Thomson Reuters Inc. and TransAlta Corporation. He was also past Chair of the Ontario Global 100 (OG100) and past Canadian Co-Chair of the Atlantik Bruecke.
Mr. Jenkins received an M.B.A. (York University), an EE M.A.Sc. (University of Toronto) and a B.Eng. & Mgt. in Engineering Physics and Commerce (McMaster University). Mr. Jenkins has received honorary doctorates from six universities.
He is a 2017 Companion of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, the McMaster Engineering L.W. Shemilt Distinguished Alumni Award and the Schulich School of Business Outstanding Executive Leadership award. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy
of Engineering (FCAE). Mr. Jenkins is a former officer and honorary colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces and was awarded the Canadian Forces Decoration (CD) and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal (QJDM). Mr. Jenkins is a recipient of the
Federal Republic of Germany Order of Merit (Knight’s Cross or BVO). Mr. Jenkins is an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC).
Past Maple Leaf Award of Distinction Recipients
Linda Hasenfratz, Chief Executive Officer, Linamar Corporation
Jacques Goulet, President, Mercer Retirement Health and Benefits, Mercer
Christina Gold, former President & CEO, The Western Union Company
Kenneth Taylor, former Canadian Ambassador to Iran; former Canadian Consul General in New York
Calin Rovinescu, President & CEO, Air Canada
Michael Sabia, President & CEO, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)
Mark Standish, President & Co-CEO, RBC Capital Markets
Daniel Sullivan, former NY Consul General of Canada; former Deputy Chairman, Scotia Capital
Walter Tomenson, Senior Advisor, Inegro Ltd., and former Chairman, FINPRO Marsh Inc.
