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Gina Cody

Gina Parvaneh Cody CM is a Canadian-Iranian engineer and business leader.

Gina Cody
CM
Born
Iran
Alma mater
SpouseThomas Cody
Scientific career
FieldsStructural Engineering
Institutions
  • Concordia University
  • Ontario Ministry of Affairs and Housing
  • CCI Group Inc.
Thesis (1989)

In 1989, Cody became the first woman in Canada to earn a PhD in building engineering.[1] In 2018, following her donation of $15 million, Concordia University renamed its faculty of engineering and computer science after her (the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science), making it the first university engineering and computer science faculty to be named after a woman in Canada, and one of the first internationally.[2][3][4][5]

Early life and education

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Cody was born in Iran in 1956.[3] Her father owned a boy's high school, where she would teach during the summer.[3][5] Her three brothers became engineers, while her sister became a dentist.[5][6] In 1978, Cody completed a Bachelor of Science degree in structural engineering at Aryamehr University of Technology (now called Sharif University of Technology).[5][7][6]

Cody left Iran for Canada in 1979 with $2,000. At this point, her brother had completed a Bachelor's of Engineering at Concordia University in Montreal, and arranged for her to meet with the engineering professor Cedric Marsh.[5] Through this meeting, Cody received a scholarship in engineering to attend Concordia University in Montreal, where she completed a master's degree in engineering in 1981.[3][5]

In 1989, Cody became the first woman in Canada to earn a PhD in building engineering, also from Concordia.[1][2][7]

Career

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Following her PhD, Cody moved to Toronto, where she worked for a year on provincial building codes for Ontario's Ministry of Housing (now the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing).[5][6] She then moved to the private sector, where she performed tower crane inspections at Construction Control Inc. (CCI), an Ontario-based engineering consulting company, making her the first woman to climb Toronto construction cranes as an inspector.[5][7] She worked her way up through CCI to become its president.[3][5][7][8]

Cody eventually became the executive chair and principal shareholder of CCI Group Inc.[3][5] She sold CCI Group Inc. and retired in 2016.[3] Following a 2016 merger, the CCI Group Inc. now operates as McIntosh Perry Consulting Engineers.[5]

In 2018, Cody made an historic $15-million gift to the Concordia University faculty she had twice graduated from, which was renamed the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science. It is the first engineering and computer science faculty in Canada and one of the first in the world named after a woman.[2][3][4] Her support fosters gender equity, diversity and inclusion through 100 undergraduate and 40 graduate entrance scholarships across the faculty. In addition, it supports the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Smart and Resilient Cities and Communities, and enables the next-generation work of three new research chairs – in the internet of things, artificial intelligence, and industry 4.0.[2][3][4]

Cody became co-chancellor of Concordia University on May 1, 2024, alongside fellow alumnus Jonathan Wener. She commences a three-year term as chancellor on January 1, 2025.[9]

Advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion

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Since retiring and making her landmark gift to Concordia University, Cody has become a vocal advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

Cody has been invited to speak at dozens of events for major corporations, universities, governments, conferences and women's groups. These include keynote presentations for the Association québécoise des technologies, Autodesk, City of Markham, CCWESTT 2020, Bombardier, Broadcom, Engineers Without Borders Canada, IEEE, Pratt & Whitney, PwC, Qualcomm, Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), SAP, Siemens, Sunlife, UCLA, Western University, the University of Sherbrooke, the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and Let’s Talk Science.

Board memberships

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Cody is one of the few women to chair a TSX 60 company – the Canadian Apartment Properties REIT (CAPREIT). She also chairs the European Residential REIT and serves on the boards of EllisDon, CIMA+ and Sienna Senior Living.

Other roles and responsibilities

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Awards and honours

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For her contributions to engineering, business and her community, Cody has received numerous awards, including an Award of Merit from the Canadian Standards Association,[10] a Volunteer Service Award from the Government of Ontario[11] and Officer of the Order of Honour of Professional Engineers Ontario.[12] The Financial Post recognized Construction Control (then under Cody's management) as one of Canada's best managed companies.[5][8] In 2010, Profit magazine named Cody one of Canada's Top Women Entrepreneurs, and listed CCI as the ninth most profitable Canadian company owned by a woman.[5][7][13] The following year, the Concordia University Alumni Association named her Alumna of the Year.[7][1]

Cody was named to the Order of Montreal in 2019[14] and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2021.[15] She was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2019.[16] Cody was named one of Canada's Top 25 Women of Influence in 2020[17] and a Woman of Distinction by the Women’s Y Foundation of Montreal in 2023.[18]

In 2022 Cody was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering by the University of Sherbrooke[19] and named outstanding major donor for 2022 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Quebec.[20] She is also an honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the 34 Combat Engineer Regiment (CER) of the Canadian Armed Forces.

Personal life

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Cody currently resides in Toronto and is married to Thomas Cody, a Concordia MBA graduate and retired Bank of America Canada senior vice-president, whom she met while both were students at Concordia.[5] The couple have two daughters, Roya and Tina Cody.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Gina Cody". Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Concordia University names engineering faculty after female graduate Gina Cody". CTVNews. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Concordia engineering school becomes first in Canada named after a woman as alumna donates $15-million". Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Concordia University alumna donates $15M, faculty of engineering named after her". Global News. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "Concordia University's engineering school is first in Canada to be named after a woman | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  6. ^ a b c "Profile – Gina Cody, P.Eng.: Structural integrity". Archived from the original on 24 January 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Gina Cody: Climbing to Great Heights". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Winners | Best Managed | Executive | Financial Post". www.financialpost.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Gina Cody named co-chancellor, joins Jonathan Wener in role - Concordia University". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Gina Cody | 30 years later". 30yearslater.ca. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Award of Merit". www.osstf.on.ca. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  12. ^ "2012 Officer of the Order of Honour". Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Construction executives among top women business leaders in Canada - constructconnect.com". 23 November 2011.
  14. ^ "Gina Cody named to the Ordre de Montréal". www.concordia.ca.
  15. ^ Canada, Governor General of. "Governor General Announces 61 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". www.newswire.ca.
  16. ^ "Fifty-four new Fellows inducted into the Canadian Academy of Engineering" (PDF). www.cae-acg.ca. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  17. ^ Moore, Marie. "Gina Cody – Women of Influence".
  18. ^ "Woman of Distinction: Gina Cody to be recognized by Women's Y Foundation of Montreal - Concordia University". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  19. ^ "Gina Cody awarded honorary doctorate from Université de Sherbrooke - Concordia University". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
  20. ^ "Gina Cody distinguished with excellence in philanthropy award - Concordia University". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
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