Think tank

Richard (Dick) Price

Professor and Senior Advisor to the President, University of British Columbia. In his capacity as Senior Advisor Dr. Price has worked closely with the Canada West Task Force on Future Competitive Structures for Canada West and CIS, authoring the Task Forces’s Final Report which was unanimously endorsed by Canada West at its Annual General Meeting May 10, 2012, and presenting it to the CIS Annual General Meeting June 20, 2012. He was a varsity athlete as an undergraduate student at the University of Alberta, and continues his involvement in sports by competing occasionally, and coaching high school and community basketball teams the last eight years.

As a faculty member in the Department of Political Science since his arrival at UBC in 2001, Professor Price specializes in international relations. His research interests focus on the role of norms in world politics, including studying why some global initiatives succeed while others fail. His publications include The Chemical Weapons Taboo (Cornell University Press, 1997), The United Nations and Global Security (Palgrave, 2004), Moral Limit and Possibility in World Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2008), and Special Responsibilities: Global Problems and US Power (Cambridge University Press, 2012), along with numerous articles. He was awarded a UBC Killam Teaching Prize in 2008.

Marion Lay

Marion represented Canada at the highest levels of international swimming in the 1960’s earning a gold medal in the 110yd freestyle and setting a world record in the relay at the Commonwealth Games and winning a Bronze medal at the 68 Mexico Olympic Games.

Marion has made significant contributions to the removal of inequities in sport through involvement in a number of organizations and causes, including helping to found WomenSport International, ProMOTION Plus (BC’s organization for girls and women in sport), Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS), and the Canadian Sport Centre Pacific.

In addition, Marion is the President of Think Sport Ltd., a Vancouver-based sport management and consulting firm, specializing in event management, program planning, evaluation, and gender equity education. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in the School of Kinesiology at UBC. She is also a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Previously, Marion headed the operations for the Rick Hansen Man In Motion World Tour. She was the President and CEO of 2010 Legacies Now which in partnership with the 2010 Olympics and Winter Paralympic Games, created new initiatives and enhanced funding to the Provincial sport system, Healthy Living sector, literacy sector and the Arts and Cultural sector. Marion was heavily involved with the Vancouver 2010 Games as the chair of the Bid Corporation and served as the City of Vancouver representative on the VANOC board of directors.

In 2012 she was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in the Builder Category and received the Order of BC for her work in sport at the Provincial, National and International level.

Louise Cowin

Louise Cowin began her five-year term as UBC’s Vice President, Students in October 2011, and has leadership responsibility for shaping the student experience and broad learning environment at UBC. Her portfolio includes Student Development and Services, Student Housing and Hospitality Services, and Athletics and Recreation.

Louise has held a variety of university administrative and teaching roles, the most recent as Warden of Hart House at the University of Toronto. Prior to her appointment as Warden of Hart House, Louise was the Director of Student Services and the School-University Partnerships Office at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto.

Louise holds a Ph.D. in Educational Studies from McGill University, held tenure-stream positions at Queen’s University (outdoor and experiential education) and Dalhousie University (school of health and human performance), and taught physical and health education to B.Ed. teacher candidates as an instructor at UBC and the University of Toronto. Louise’s undergraduate and masters degrees are in sports studies and physical education.

David Burleigh

For the last 2 years, David has been working with leaders in both the private and public sector with a mandate to lead organizational change. As the principal/owner – consulting & performance coaching practice a key focus of this effort has been leveraging business leading practices and experiences while working with leaders in the sports industry to help in the development of a performance culture.

For Canadian University Athletics Departments and PSO/NSO’s, David has led and assisted in design and implementation of new business/sport models, provided performance/leadership coaching to varsity coaches and department leaders, led service model restructuring initiatives and facilitated strategic planning processes for the identification and development of the business priorities.

Prior to this, David spent 5 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers focused on market strategy, business model design, process improvement and leading acquisition teams. While at PwC, David was responsible for building a revenue growth offer and was also an integration team leader for the largest acquisition undertaken by PwC Canada.

Prior to joining PwC in Toronto, David worked 5 years with BMO Private Bank in Chicago and Toronto where he led teams to improve business productivity and growth with a significant focus on managing cultural change. This experience continues to influence his approach to working with leaders in leading change.

After completing an MBA (McMaster) in 1996, David spent 3 years developing project and change management, strategy design and process improvement competencies with Ernst & Young Management Consultants in Toronto.

David also holds a Master’s degree in Sport Administration from the University of Ottawa. David completed his undergraduate work at Queen’s University where he obtained concurrent BA (Health) and BPHE degrees while competing for Queen’s University football and basketball teams. David became a certified executive coach through Royal Roads University in 2009.