Biographies - Board of Governors

Paul Ramsey is an alumni of the University of Victoria, who graduated in 1996 with a Master of Science in Statistics. He has lived in Victoria with his partner Susan for 25 years, and they have raised two children here. Ramsey works as a software engineer for Crunchy Data, developing open source database software. In his professional career he has run a small business, managed software start-ups, put on conferences, and directed international non-profits. The best part of all of it has been helping other people succeed.

Erinn Pinkerton is a respected senior executive with over 20 years of expansive, results oriented, public-sector experience in the transportation industry. Pinkerton is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BC Transit, overseeing the delivery of public transit across 130 communities in BC. She is a visionary leader and is modernizing public transit through innovation, technology and converting the fleet to zero emission. Pinkerton is the recipient of Business in Vancouver’s 2021 ‘Influential Women in Business’ award and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters of Business Administration.

Merle Alexander is a partner with Miller Titerle + Co. Alexander practices Indigenous resource law, focusing on Indigenous sustainable development. Active within his community, Alexander is a former director and president of the Vancouver Native Housing Society Foundation, has served as the chief negotiator for a UN Indigenous Caucus and was also a director and president of the Vancouver Child Family Services Society. He is a recipient of Business in Vancouver's 2009 "Top Forty Under 40" award and a UVic Distinguished Alumni Award. Alexander holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Victoria.

Chekwube Anyaegbunam is a PhD student of English (with a concentration in Cultural, Social and Political Thought). She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Literary Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and a Master of Arts degree in Anglophone Literatures, Cultures and Media from the Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany. Her research straddles the fields of memory, trauma, and identity studies, particularly through postcolonial lenses. As a published writer, scholar, teacher and activist, Anyaegbunam has a history of involvement in policy-making decisions affecting thousands of students, and she volunteers in different academic and community environments to help foster the representation of the under/misrepresented, support struggling students and promote healthy reforms.

Marion Buller became Chancellor of UVic on January 1, 2022.

Buller received her undergraduate degree in anthropology (’75) and her law degree (’87) from UVic. In 1994, Buller became the initial First Nations woman appointed as a BC judge. In 2006, she established and presided in the First Nations Courts—now known as Indigenous Courts—and provided the foundation for the Aboriginal Family Healing Court conferences, meant to incorporate traditional restorative justice principles into sentencing proceedings and child protection matters. She was the chief commissioner for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls from 2016 to 2019. She served as both a director and president of the Indigenous Bar Association and has been a member of B.C.’s Law Courts Education Society, the province’s law foundation and the B.C. Police Commission. Buller was commission counsel for the Cariboo-Chilcotin Justice Inquiry and published reports and articles dealing with Aboriginal rights and legal services for First Nations in B.C. Buller has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UVic Faculty of Social Sciences and an honorary Doctor of Laws from Thompson Rivers University. She is a member of the Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, a Cree First Nation in Saskatchewan.

Erin J. Campbell is Professor of Early Modern European Art in the Department of Art History & Visual Studies, University of Victoria. Her research focuses on the Early Modern domestic interior, and she has been published in numerous journals and essay collections and has co-edited and co-authored several books in her field. Over the course of her 21-year career at UVic, she has held key leadership roles in her department, including Graduate Advisor and Chair. She is a member of the Program Committee for the Medieval Studies Program, and has served on searches for Chairs, Deans, the Associate University Librarian, Digital Scholarship, and the Vice-President Academic and Provost. Campbell is Member-at-Large on Senate and a member of the Senate Committee on Learning and Teaching. She is currently Vice-President of the UVic Faculty Association, serving on the Advising and Dispute Resolution Committee, the Global Humanitarian Response Committee, Executive Committee, and CAUT and CUFA Councils.  As the current Chair of Art History & Visual Studies, she is a keen advocate for collegial governance and consensus-building for decision-making.

Brian Cant is Vice President, Business Impact & Engagement for 4VI, a social enterprise created to ensure that travel is a force for good for Vancouver Island. Inspired by his summer job guiding visitors through the underground mine at the Rossland Museum in the Kootenays, his career has focused on the tourism industry. He has worked in communications, developing and executing communications and engagement strategies, for more than 15 years – including having worked as Director, Communications & Engagement for the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, as well as roles with Destination Greater Victoria, Destination British Columbia, and tartanbond (formerly Tartan Group).

Cant is a proud graduate of the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business MBA program. He also holds a BA in History and Geography and a Diploma in Public Relations from the University of Victoria. He also serves as Past President of the Alumni Association. 

Christina Clarke is Executive Director of the Indigenous Prosperity Centre, a not-for-profit committed to the self-directed economic vision of First Nations and Indigenous Peoples throughout Southern Vancouver Island. She looks forward to facilitating the economic goals of First Nations and Indigenous people as co-creators of an inclusive economy.

Before joining the IPC, Clarke spent 27 years with the Songhees Nation, serving as Senior Finance Manager, Executive Director and as inaugural CEO of the Songhees Development Corporation. Clarke is a board member of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce and a former board member of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority and South Island Prosperity Partnership. In 2022, she was appointed to UVic’s Board of Governors. 

A graduate of the University of Victoria, Clarke honours her NunatuKavit ancestry through her mother and her paternal Irish ancestry.

Roshan Danesh is a lawyer, conflict resolution innovator, and educator whose areas of work, teaching, and writing include constitutional law, Indigenous rights, international peace-building, and leadership and organizational change. 

Danesh completed his S.J.D at Harvard Law School and LL.B at the University of Victoria, and has taught at many academic institutions including the University of British Columbia and University of Victoria.  For the last 20 years Danesh has worked extensively on advancing Indigenous title and rights and reconciliation, including advising the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, Indigenous nations across Canada, as well as the federal, provincial, and local governments. 

For two years Danesh served as the special counsel on Indigenous reconciliation to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould. Danesh has also advised governments and organizations around the world in the areas of peace-building, human rights, proactive conflict-resolution, organizational management and change, and leadership. 

President Kevin Hall is an innovative academic leader and civil engineer known for his strong commitment to sustainability, innovation, community engagement, and unwavering belief in equitable access to education, and equity, diversity and inclusion.

Throughout his career at three world-class institutions, Hall has served at many levels and functions—from faculty member, research centre director and department chair, to vice-president and senior deputy vice-chancellor of global engagement and partnerships.

A civil engineer who has made global impact, Hall has put research into practice by delivering knowledge to industry and community. His academic interests are focused on water quality modelling, environmental monitoring and pathogen detection systems, and water and health in marginalized communities. He is known for identifying opportunities for collaboration and for creating value in the regions in which he works. Hall played an integral role in establishing many new academic, research and enterprise ventures that have benefited students, staff, and the community at large.

Hall has served on over 30 corporate boards in Australia and Canada, is an avid arts enthusiast, and has a lifelong commitment to fitness.

Val Napoleon, Indigenous Peoples’ Counsel, LLB, PhD is a Professor for the Faculty of Law, the Law Foundation Chair of Indigenous Justice and Governance UVic, and the former Acting Dean of Law. She is the co-founder of the JD/JID (Juris Doctor and Juris Indigenarium Doctor) dual degree program in Indigenous legal orders and Canadian common law, and the founding director of the Indigenous Law Research Unit. She is Cree from Saulteau First Nation and an adopted member of the Gitanyow (northern Gitxsan). Her areas of research are Indigenous legal traditions and methodologies (e.g., land, water, governance and democracy, gender and human rights, dispute management, and families), Indigenous legal theories, Indigenous feminisms, legal pluralism, Indigenous democracies, and Indigenous intellectual property. She teaches common law property intersocietally with Gitxsan land intersocietally in the JID/JD.

Kyle Risby is a fourth year JD/JID (Juris Doctor and Juris Indigenarium Doctor) law student. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies from Royal Roads University and a Northern Criminology and Justice Diploma from Yukon University. Growing up in Whitehorse and working for the Council of Yukon First Nations as a Court Worker in 2016, he was appointed to the National Action Committee for Access to Justice for Civil and Family Law, advocating for system changes and access for Canadians. Now working with his Tahltan Nation on the Tahltan Stewardship Initiative, Risby is helping his community develop a stewardship plan by weaving his indigenous law teachings into his work and facilitation.

Laylee Rohani is a partner with Cook Roberts LLP and practices in the areas of corporate and commercial transactions, commercial lending, real estate and development, estate planning and administration. Her clients include private companies and businesses, financial institutions, developers, government bodies, and individuals requiring general legal advice and representation.

Rohani aims to provide practical and goal-oriented advice to her clients and believes strongly in supporting organizations and activities that advance the process of building healthy, diverse and vibrant communities.

Jyoti Stephens is the VP of Mission and Strategy for Nature’s Path Organic Foods. Stephens leads the company’s commitment to sustainability, including ethical sourcing, climate strategy, waste, community engagement and sustainable packaging. As head of Strategy, she works with the Executive Team and her family to define and refine the company’s vision, mission, values and long-range strategic plan.   

Stephens currently serves on Trust Protector Committee of the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Perpetual Purpose Trust and was previously a board member of the Sustainable Food Trade Association. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Victoria and an MBA with a focus on Sustainable Food and Agriculture from the Pinchot University (Presidio Graduate School). 

Ivan Watson leads marketing and communications activities for UVic's Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, with previous professional communication roles at Camosun College. He has worked in strategic communications, marketing, policy analysis and issues management for the federal and provincial governments in Ottawa and Victoria, for the European Union in Brussels and for several community organizations and non-profit groups locally, regionally and nationally. Watson holds a BA in Political Science and History from UVic, an MA in Leadership from Royal Roads University and certificates in Public Relations and Digital Marketing from the University of Toronto.

Watson is an active community leader and served on the national board of United Way/Centraide Canada, as Chair of the United Way of Greater Victoria (Southern Vancouver Island) and as a British Columbia representative for the Canadian Red Cross Society. He is an alumnus and past Vice President of Leadership Victoria, former Communications Director for the Victoria Leadership Awards and past elected member of the Board of Governors of Royal Roads University. He previously served for two terms on the UVic Alumni Association Board of Directors.