Deborah MacLatchy

Deborah Lynn MacLatchy (born 1964) is a Canadian ecotoxicologist and comparative endocrinologist. She is the seventh President and Vice-Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University, having formally led the International Office at the University of New Brunswick. She also served as President and Council Member of the Canadian Society of Zoologists and Chair of the Science Directors of the Canadian Rivers Institute. In 2012, MacLatchy was recognized as one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women in a Top 100 list compiled by the Women’s Executive Network. Early life and education MacLatchy was born in 1964, in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, to parents Cyrus and Ann. Her father was a physics professor at Acadia University and her mother was a special education teacher. Cyrus was originally from Preston, Ontario, where he met Ann before moving to New Brunswick to go to law school. While MacLatchy attended Acadia for her Bachelor of Science (BSc) honours degree, she worked as a lifeguard and taught swimming at the university pool. Upon receiving her BSc degree, MacLatchy enrolled at the University of Manitoba for her doctoral degree in zoology. She focused on the minutiae of physical mechanisms, specifically, how thyroid hormones work in fish. MacLatchy later listed her undergraduate and doctoral professors as personal heroes or mentors during her scientific career, including Dan Toews, Geoff Eales, and Glen Van Der Kraak. Career University of New Brunswick Upon completing her doctoral degree, she enrolled at the University of Guelph for postdoctoral work and later joined the faculty at the University of New Brunswick (UNB). During her early years at UNB, she helped establish the Canadian Rivers Institute (CRI) and was the recipient of a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Synergy award for partnerships for her "collaborative work on the issue of endocrine disruption in aquatic environments caused by industrial contaminants." In 2003, she served as President and Council Member of the Canadian Society of Zoologists for one term.