Honorary Colonel, CADTC (Canadian Army Doctrine & Training Centre)
Rose M. Patten, OC, OOnt, LL.D.
Rose M. Patten, OC, OOnt, LL.D.
Special Advisor, BMO Financial Group
Adjunct Professor, Rotman School of Management
Chancellor Emerita, University of Toronto
Honorary Colonel, CADTC
INTRO
Rose Patten is highly sought after as an authority on the study and practice of leadership. Through her accomplished career, she has had extensive experience and held top roles as senior executive leader and as director or chair of boards in multiple sectors. As an advisor to CEOs and C-suite leaders, her focus and passion is on executive development, succession planning, and board governance. Her career spans banking, academia, and health settings.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Dr. Patten, is Special Advisor to the CEO and senior executives at BMO Financial Group, and is well-known from her 30-year career as a senior executive leader in the Canadian financial services industry. Previously, she held simultaneously the positions of Executive Vice-President, Business Strategy and Executive Vice-President, Global Human Resources at BMO. Earlier in her career, she was Executive Vice-President at BMO Nesbitt Burns, Senior Vice-President at Manulife, and General Manager at Lloyds Bank Canada. She also held board directorships at BMO ChinaCo in Beijing.
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Dr. Patten is Chancellor Emerita (as the 34th Chancellor) of the University of Toronto.
She was elected to a three-year term July 1, 2018 and re-elected to the second and final term which ended June 30, 2024. She is a member of the Defy Gravity Campaign cabinet. She is currently Executive-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor in executive leadership programs at the Rotman School of Management and a member of Massey College.
From 2004 – 2007, Dr. Patten was Chair of UofT 's Governing Council, having served nine years in other council leadership positions. She then chaired the Task Force on Governance which, in 2010, included the recommendations that led to the University’s current tri-campus governance structure. From 2012 to 2018, she served as Honorary Patron of the King’s College Circle Heritage Society, at which time she became the 34th Chancellor of the University of Toronto
HOSPITAL FOR SICK CHILDREN
From 2014 to 2017, Dr Patten served as Chair of the board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick children and in 2019 the Board appointed her Honorary chair and Honorary trustee in recognition of her exceptional service.
CANADIAN ARMED FORCES
Dr. Patten was appointed Honorary Colonel of the Canadian Forces College on September 8th, 2022. She was recently appointed the Honorary Colonel of the CADTC (Canadian Army Doctrine & Training Centre) effective April 2026, for a 3-year term.
OTHER AWARDS & RECOGNITION
In 2009, the University awarded her the degree Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, for her leadership as a role model for women executives in Canadian banking, for her community volunteerism, and for her service to the University. The University also established the Rose Patten Mentoring Leadership Programme, in recognition of her long-standing commitment to mentorship.
In 2017, Dr. Patten was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada and appointed a Member of the Order of Ontario in 2022.
Recognized by U.S. Banker Magazine as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking, Dr. Patten was inducted in 2007 into the Hall of Fame of the Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women Awards. She received the YWCA’s Woman of Distinction Award for Corporate Leadership in 2009, and in 2014, she received the Canadian HR industry’s Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2012, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2026, Dr. Patten was a recipient of the St. Laurent Award from the NATO Association of Canada.