Dee Patterson

In her nearly 30-year career as a senior financial services executive, Dee Patterson, MBA’89, led the development of Scotiabank’s corporate banking power and utilities portfolio across Canada. She also has extensive experience across many other sectors, including infrastructure, healthcare, technology and government. She credits her work and board experiences, with affording her an important skill as a York University governor: the ability to work collaboratively and creatively and view complex issues from multiple perspectives.

Dee first joined the York community as a part-time MBA student at the Schulich School of Business in the late 1980s. An international health program graduate, she remembers being impressed with York’s openness, flexibility and willingness to consider her MBA application. “They took a chance on me,” she says, “and so when an opportunity arose at the Board level, I was intrigued and excited to be able to give back.”

Dee joined the University’s Board of Governors in February 2019 and currently serves on the Finance and Audit Committee as Chair and as a member of the Executive and Investment Committees.  She is also as a member of the Pension Fund Board of Trustees.

In addition to her service at York, Dee is a member of the board of directors at both RFA Bank and Elexicon Energy Inc, having previously served on the Boards of West Park Healthcare and Toronto Hydro Electric System Limited, among others. Adding to her York University MBA, she earned her ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors - Rotman Directors Education Program at the University of Toronto and her Master’s in Finance from London Business School.