Dr. Marie-Eve Sylvestre has been president and vice-chancellor of the University of Ottawa since July 1, 2025. Prior to assuming this role, she was dean of the Civil Law Section of the Faculty of Law and co-chair of the Senate Committee on Academic Freedom. A distinguished interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Sylvestre’s research focuses on criminal law and practices that have a discriminatory impact on marginalized populations. Dr. Sylvestre is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada and a board member of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She was awarded the distinction of Advocatus Emeritus by the Quebec Bar in 2022. She holds an LLB from the Université de Montréal, as well as an LLM and an SJD from Harvard Law School, where she was a Frank Knox Memorial Foundation fellow.

Ex-officio governors are appointed for as long as they hold the position in The Ottawa Hospital or other organization that entitles them to a seat on the Board according to the Administrative By-law.