It's hard to shake the feeling that Dr. Indira Samarasekera is about to make a great many friends within the Canadian business community. She's the antithesis of every stereotype of the stuffy, disengaged academic. On the contrary, the University of Alberta's 12th president combines an unpretentious personal style with an authoritative resolve, something she has come by honestly during an extremely impressive career.

Another point in her favour: She's fluent in the esoteric lingo spoken by big business and private industry. A distinguished metallurgical engineer, she helped develop, advance and introduce breakthrough steel-processing techniques, ultimately lecturing senior producers around the world on the immediate need to embrace them.

As senior administrator and de facto campus CEO (she officially replaced Rod Fraser on July 1), Samarasekera is already rubbing shoulders with corporate royalty.

At the urging of federal Industry Minister David Emerson, Samarasekera has joined such luminaries as Research In Motion Ltd. co-founder Mike Lazaridis and Toronto financier Joe Rotman on an advisory panel created to advise the feds how to streamline the process for bringing new technologies and services from conception to market.

Sean Connor, Business Edge
Dr. Indira Samarasekera, the new University of Alberta president, plans 'to translate the knowledge we uncover through our research to a societal benefit.'

Her nomination shouldn't be a surprise, by the way. At least 70 active companies have already been spun from U of A labs.

"I think what's exciting about it is that this panel's work is viewed as critical to what the government is calling its productivity agenda," Samarasekera says.

"The prime minister and Minister Emerson are keen to look at initiatives to improve productivity. If (the panel) can influence that outcome, it would, hopefully, have a major effect on the Canadian economy."

She arrived in Edmonton at an opportune moment. Flush with oil and gas revenues, Alberta's pinch-penny provincial nabobs have reached the long-overdue conclusion that our institutions of higher learning have suffered serious neglect. Hence, the recent provincial pledge to inject fresh billions into post'-secondary programs.

Casting half an eye at those energy revenues, Samarasekera defines her mandate, in part, as the fulfilment of an obligation "to translate the knowledge we uncover through our research to a societal benefit."

"Education has become the No. 1 public issue for the foreseeable future. And brain-power is the new natural resource," she adds. "The game has changed. Canada owns six per cent of the world's natural resources ... but our ability to rely on those (i.e. traditional) natural resources (will diminish)."

Hired as VP of research at the University of B.C. in 2000, Samarasekera managed quite well, to say the least. UBC's annual research funding reportedly rose by more than $230 million during the first three years of her tenure.

Undoubtedly, her specialized skills in the field helped her land the U of A job. And though she's sincere in her intention to place renewed emphasis on the arts and humanities while beefing up core ranks of graduate students, the drive to attract more research dollars - as well as high-profile experts - to Edmonton remains near the top of her agenda.

Example: After outstanding heart-transplant researcher Lori West announced her intention to leave Toronto for the U of A's Stollery Children's Hospital, Samarasekera could scarcely restrain her delight.

"It's not raiding, it's called creating a critical mass," she said. "The win for Canada is that this absolutely world-class researcher will have greater ability to translate her ideas into (tangible) outcomes in Alberta than she would in Ontario," Samarasekera added.

"I think it signals a real shift in where the action's going to be. I think it's going to be right here in Alberta."

According to U of A statistics, the campus attracts $377 million in annual research funding to the capital region, 90 per cent of which stems from government sources. It stands to reason, she believes, that industry could do much more, citing a recent gift of $10 million from Imperial Oil as a step in the right direction.

Samarasekera believes corporate Canada has important roles to play to ensure that universities continue to generate a steady stream of rounded graduates, saying, "the biggest form of technology transfer goes out the door on two legs: PhDs, holders of master's degrees and undergraduates who have been exposed to research."

She wasn't just talking about funding. She's asking corporate leaders to become advocates for higher education, as well as to share their expertise with students and faculty.

Not at all impressed by the fact she's the university's first female president, Samarasekera waves off further discussion of the topic.

Instead, she continues to speak her mind, addressing both government and industry: "The post-secondary sector has been truly starved of resources for a good 10 years and that has certainly limited our capacity on a number of fronts, in terms of providing a quality undergraduate experience," she concludes.

"We have to not just invest (in education) at average levels but way ahead of other societies, if we're going to progress."

(Tom Keyser can be reached at tomk@businessedge.ca)