James W. Leech

James W. Leech became 14th Chancellor of Queen's University in July 2014.

Following a 45-year military and business career, Jim Leech retired as President and CEO of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, one of the world's largest plans.

Previously, Mr. Leech was president and CEO of Unicorp Canada Corporation, one of Canada's first public merchant banks, and Union Energy Inc., then one of North America's largest integrated energy companies.

Since retiring, Mr. Leech focused on philanthropic leadership and non-partisan public service: Senior Advisor with McKinsey and Company; chair of the UHN Foundation, the MasterCard Foundation and the Advisory Board of the Institute for Sustainable Finance; Special Advisor to Canada’s Prime Minister to create the Canada Infrastructure Bank; Honorary Colonel of 32 Signal Regiment, Canadian Forces; and founding director of Right To Play International.

Mr. Leech has been a member of Queen's Board of Trustees, University Council and Chair of Queen's School of Business Advisory Board.

In 2013, he co-authored The Third Rail, Confronting our Pension Failures, a best-selling book that received the 2013-2014 National Business Book Award.

In 2010, Mr. Leech was awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, in 2014 was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada, in 2019 was awarded the Canadian Decoration and in 2020 was invested into the Order of Ontario.

Mr. Leech holds a BSc (Hons. Math and Physics) and an LL.D from the Royal Military College of Canada, an MBA (1973) from Queen's University, and is a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors.