The DeGroote School of Business recently celebrated the graduation of 67 newly
certified Chartered Directors (C. Dir) of The Directors College, a joint venture of
McMaster University and The Conference Board of Canada. Founded in 2003, The
Directors College is Canada's first university accredited corporate director development
program.

“The growing relevance and importance of the Directors College program is
underscored by the turmoil that led the world into the 2008-09 recession. Much of the
financial trouble that precipitated the recession can be traced to failures of
governance,” said Anne Golden, President and Chief Executive Officer of The
Conference Board of Canada.

Jim Adamson – chief executive, NASA astronaut, US Army colonel, professional
engineer, and Chartered Director – was named the 2011 winner of the Gil Bennett Gold
Standard Governance Award, presented by The Directors College.

Named in honour of former Canadian Tire Chair, Gil Bennett, this award has been
presented annually since 2006 to a Directors College graduate who demonstrates
dedication to raising the bar for professional standards in corporate governance
through his or her progress in the Chartered Director program.

“We are privileged to have an individual of Jim Adamson's calibre receive the Gil Bennett
award this year,” said DeGroote professor Chris Bart, Principal & Lead Professor, The
Directors College.

Adamson is a senior consultant to the aerospace and defense Industry through his own
company, Monarch Precision. He is currently director and Governance Committee
chairman for Com Dev International, a global designer and manufacturer of space
hardware. He also serves on NASA's Advisory Committee for the International Space
Station, and was the Operations Panel Chairman of the Return to Flight Task Group for
the Space Shuttle following the Columbia accident.

Graduates of the 2011 Directors College comprise a diverse representation of public
and private organizations from across Canada. In order to earn their Chartered Director
designation, participants, must complete five-modules which cover the full range of
formal governance principles and rules that directors need to know for their role as
stewards of corporations, along with a unique board simulation and final exam.

In addition to the Chartered Director program, The Directors College also presented
certifications through its Human Resources and Compensation Committee Certified
(H.R.C.C.C.) Program, developed in partnership with the Human Resources Professionals
Association (HRPA), and its Audit Committee Certified Program (A.C.C.) developed in
partnership with Certified Management Accountants (CMA).

Since 2003, more than 500 directors have earned the Chartered Director designation
through the Directors College.