Disrupting the age-old Education system through a customized online and on-demand learning experience. Learn from D2L CEO, John Baker, on how the education system is changing and the ways it will benefit you.
The Lassonde School of Engineering in partnership with the Schulich School of Business presents John Baker at the 2017 Mercier Lecture.
Speaker: John Baker, President and CEO
John founded D2L in 1999, at the age of twenty-two, while attending the University of Waterloo as a Systems Design Engineering student.
He saw that online digital tools could open the door to entirely new and more effective models, and create learning experiences that are more personal, engaging and inspiring. The company is on the journey of transforming the way the world learns.
A strong believer in community involvement, John devotes both his personal and business efforts to supporting young entrepreneurs who are developing and applying technology to improve society worldwide.
He was recognized in 2013 as an EY Entrepreneur of the Year within Ontario, received the Young Alumni Achievement Medal from the University of Waterloo, and inducted into the Waterloo Region Hall of Fame as an Intrepid Entrepreneur.
He was appointed to the Governing Council of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, is Chair of the Board of Communitech, and is a board member of Canada’s National Ballet School and other organizations.
Mercier Lecture:
In an effort to inspire and empower future generations of chemistry students at York with a sense of the possible, Mr. Mercier's wife, Dr. Eileen Mercier, a York graduate (MBA '77), established the lecture series in her late husband's name. Bridging the worlds of business and commerce with the intensive research world of chemistry, the series will present an entrepreneur and renowned scientist who has used his/her own science education as a springboard to other enterprises.
"Ernest believed that the benefits of discipline and analytical thinking, which his engineering education provided, were basic to understanding the cause-and-effect laws of business." says Ms. Mercier. "This lectureship will hopefully inspire others to use their education in similarly unique ways."
This lecture is generously supported by Dr. Eileen Mercier and presented by the Lassonde School of Engineering and the Schulich School of Business.