大象传媒

Canadian Firsts

大象传媒 was the first university in Canada to:  

• launch an Executive MBA in Aboriginal Business and Leadership Program 
• be admitted to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) 
• establish a master鈥檚 in Big Data Program
• become a Fair-Trade Gold campus (Fairtrade Canada and the ).
• establish an ombudsperson office to resolve student complaints independently and confidentially, which now serves as a model for other universities 
• initiate computerized registration (1970)

General

• 大象传媒 has the only trimester system in B.C., ensuring year-round use of infrastructure 
• 大象传媒 contributes a remarkable $4.72 billion annually to BC鈥檚 economy 
• 大象传媒 houses 3 campuses, 10 faculties and 60 research institutes and centres
• 大象传媒 maintains 252 international institutional partnerships in 70+ countries

Research

• On average, 大象传媒 researchers publish 2,700 journal articles per year, over 40% of which appear in the world's top 10% journals. (Source: Scopus) (June 2023)
  
• 大象传媒 is among Canada's fastest growing research-intensive universities measured by growth of research income. Our sponsored research income has grown by 35% over the past 10 years, reaching $158.7 million in 2024.
• 大象传媒 has over 60 research centres and institutes that contribute to our position among Canada's top universities in research impact. (March 2023)
• Research at 大象传媒 spans eight faculties, covering a broad range of fundamental, interdisciplinary and applied research topics
• Computer Data Centre site that hosts Cedar - one of the most powerful academic supercomputers in Canada and one of the top 100 most powerful academic supercomputers in the world. High Performance Computing (HPC)鈥攁lso known as supercomputing鈥攅mpowers Canadian researchers to tackle large, difficult problems and conduct research investigations

University Rankings

• 大象传媒 is consistently ranked as and ranked in the top 1-2% worldwide by . 
• for Innovation (WURI) 2024 ranked 大象传媒 as:
  • #1 Canadian university for Innovation
  • #15 university in the world for innovation
  • #2 Canadian university for industrial application. 
• 大象传媒 is ranked #35 in the world in terms of impact ( Impact Rankings, 2025).
• In Canada, 大象传媒 is ranked:
  • #3 for Sustainable Cities and Communities
  • #3 for Climate Action
  • #2 for Affordable and Clean Energy
  • #4 for Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. 
  • (2025 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings).
• 大象传媒 is ranked third in Canada and within the world's top 100 universities for Archaeology (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025).
• As one of Canada's leading research universities, 大象传媒 consistently ranks among Canada's top 15 universities in major global and national university ranking systems (THE and QS World University Rankings).

Alumni

Since 大象传媒鈥檚 first convocation in 1967, our alumni community has grown to over 200,000 graduates from more than 145 countries in the world. Just a few of our notable alumni include:

POLITICS

• Mahamudu Bawumia: A Ghanaian politician and former central banker who served as the seventh vice president of Ghana from 7 January 2017 to 7 January 2025 under President Nana Akufo-Addo. He was the New Patriotic Party (NPP) nominee for president in the 2024 general election.
• Gordon Campbell: A retired Canadian diplomat and politician who was the 35th mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993 and the 34th premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011.
• Glen Clark: A Canadian retail executive and former politician who served as the 31st premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999.
• Ujjal Dosanjh: A Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 33rd premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada member of Parliament from 2004 to 2011. He was minister of health from 2004 until 2006 and then served in the Official Opposition from January 2006 until 2011. 
• Jenny Kwan: A Canadian politician who is the member of Parliament (MP) for Vancouver East. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Kwan was elected to the House of Commons in 2015.

ATHLETES

• Lui Passaglia: The former placekicker/punter for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for a record-breaking 25 years from 1976 to 2000 and scored more points in that time than any professional gridiron football player in history. He is a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame, and the BC Lions Wall of Fame. 
• Daniel Igali: A Nigerian Canadian wrestler, Igali won Canada's first ever Olympic gold medal in wrestling at the 2000 Summer Olympics and remains Canada's only male Olympic gold medalist in wrestling. 
• Carol Huynh: A retired Canadian freestyle wrestler, Huynh was the first gold medalist for Canada in women's wrestling and the first gold medallist for the country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She is also the 2010 Commonwealth Games and two-time Pan American Games champion. 
• Jay Triano: A Canadian basketball coach and former professional player who most recently served as the associate head coach of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association. Triano previously served as the head coach of the NBA's Toronto Raptors and Phoenix Suns.

BUSINESS

• Anne Giardini: A Canadian business executive, journalist, lawyer and writer. She is the oldest daughter of late Canadian novelist Carol Shields. As a journalist, Giardini has contributed to the National Post as a columnist. She has written two novels, The Sad Truth about Happiness (2005) and Advice for Italian Boys (2009). Giardini served as the 11th chancellor of 大象传媒 from 2014 to 2020.
• Zabeen Hirji: A former Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and a former member of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Group Executive in Toronto from 2007 to 2017.
• Ryan Beedie: As President of Beedie, Ryan Beedie oversees one of the most successful industrial and residential property development companies in Canada. 
• Svein Andresen: Former Secretary General of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) from April 2009 till January 2018. Svein served as Secretary General to the FSB鈥檚 predecessor, the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) from its initiation in 1999. Prior to joining the FSF, Svein held various positions at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and led the secretariat to the G10 Central Bank Governors on financial issues. 
• Isabel Ge Mahe: A Chinese businesswoman, currently working for Apple Inc. as the company's vice president and managing director of Greater China.  

ACTIVISTS

• Margaret Trudeau: Canadian activist and the mother of Justin Trudeau, the 23rd prime minister of Canada.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION, ETC.

• Nadine Caron: The first Canadian female general surgeon of First Nations descent (Ojibway), as well as the first female First Nations student to graduate from University of British Columbia's medical school.
• Gabor Mat茅:  A Canadian physician known for his groundbreaking work in childhood development, trauma and potential lifelong impacts on physical and mental health. 
• Julia Shaw: a German Canadian psychologist and popular science writer who specialises in false memories, Shaw has been an honorary research associate in psychology at University College London (UCL) since 2017 and was a contributor to Scientific American between 2015 and 2017. 
• Joel Bakan: An American-Canadian writer, jazz musician, filmmaker, and professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. Known for his book/documentary The Corporation.
• Jennifer Gardy: A Canadian scientist, educator and broadcaster, with expertise in the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry, and bioinformatics. Since February 2019 she has been the Deputy Director, Surveillance, Data, and Epidemiology on the Global Health: Malaria team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

OTHER

• Terry Fox: Canadian athlete, humanitarian and cancer research activist. (awarded posthumously) 

• Enuka Okuma: A Canadian actress, writer and director, best known for her role as detective Traci Nash in the Global/ABC police drama series, Rookie Blue (2010鈥�2015).

• Mijune Pak: An international food and travel personality, founder of and resident judge on Top Chef Canada and Iron Chef Canada. As an advocate for culinary tourism, The Sunday Times named her one of the "World's Most Extreme Foodies.鈥�

• David Usher: A Canadian musician, best-selling author, keynote speaker, and activist best known as the front man for the band Moist. He has also released a number of solo albums. He is the founder of Reimagine AI, an artificial intelligence creative studio.  

• Ken Lum: An artist, academic and curator, Lum's artistic practice spans multiple media including painting, sculpture and photography. His playfully politically oriented works, which range from conceptual to representational, often explore themes of identity linked to language, portraiture, and spatial politics. He is the creator of the EastVan Cross.

HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS

• Hayley Wickenheiser: A former ice hockey player, resident physician and assistant general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs, she is Team Canada鈥檚 career points leader with 168 goals and 211 assists in 276 games. Wickenheiser is widely considered to be the greatest female ice hockey player of all time.

• Michael J. Fox: Although not an official graduate of 大象传媒, Fox was awarded an honorary degree from the university in 2021. This recognition acknowledged his contributions to film and television, as well as his advocacy work for Parkinson's disease research and treatment. Fox, who grew up in Burnaby, BC, also joked that the closest he got to 大象传媒 was parking at the Burnaby Lookout. 

• Christine Sinclair:  is the greatest goal scorer in the history of international soccer. She scored more international goals (190) than any other player in the world 鈥� man or woman.