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Biography

Dr. Dianne Kipnes obtained her PhD in clinical psychology from Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, California. She also holds an MSW from McGill University and a BA from the University of Victoria. Her previous work includes both social work at Children's Aid organizations in Montreal and Toronto and psychology at a psychiatric clinic at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton.

Over the last 20 years, Dianne, along with her husband Irv, has chaired The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Foundation whose major donations have included chairs in Radiopharmaceuticals, Lymphatic Disorders and Finance and Development at the University of Alberta. Other major initiatives involve various types of cancer care and research, in Edmonton at the Cross Cancer Institute and in Rwanda with Partners in Health. Their Foundation provided funding for the Kipnes Lantern in Ottawa, a five-story architectural glass tower conceived and built by the NAC, displaying high-tech images of featured Canadian art and culture. Other areas of interest include the Arts with a strong focus on Opera and the National Arts Centre, women and children's education and care, Veterans Care (Kipnes Centre for Veterans) and the Jewish Federation (including Holocaust Education). Currently she is on the board of the Alberta Cancer Foundation and Fielding Graduate University.

Dr. Kipnes has been honored by many organizations. Among them, she was awarded the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2006. Along with her husband Irv, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Alberta in 2009 and the Order of Canada in 2018.