Mary Elyse Allan CM (born 1956/1957) is a Canadian businesswoman, and a former president and CEO of

GE Canada General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

. She was awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

for community engagement.

Early life and education

Allan is originally from suburban New York. In 1979, Allan received a bachelor's degree from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in biology and environmental studies, and an MBA in 1984 from the

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1900 as the first institution in the ...

, where she also serves on the board of overseers. Allan received honorary doctorates from

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District in downtown Toronto, although i ...

, Saint Mary's University and Royal Roads University.

Business career

Allan's career at

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

began in 1984 and she has worked in the US and Canada in several industrial and consumer GE businesses including aviation, energy, and lighting. She retired from GE Canada at the end of June 2018, ending a 14-year career as the head of its Canadian division. Allan serves as a director on boards including the

Tuck School of Business The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College is the graduate business school of Dartmouth College, a private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. It was founded in 1900 as the first institution in th ...

, the

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

, the C. D. Howe Institute, and the

Conference Board of Canada The Conference Board of Canada is an independent, non-profit applied-research organization based in Canada. It aims to help Canada's leaders make informed, evidence-based decisions using non-partisan and non-ideological analysis. The organiza ...

. Allan has completed her board terms at the Business Council of Canada and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, where she also served as chair. She joined GE in 1984 and transferred to the Canadian operation in 1988. She left General Electric to work as a marketing executive with

Ontario Hydro Ontario Hydro, established in 1906 as the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, was a publicly owned electricity utility in the Province of Ontario. It was formed to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity ge ...

. She then spent a decade as president and CEO of the

Toronto Board of Trade The Toronto Region Board of Trade is the principal local business community organization in the City of Toronto. It is the largest Chamber of Commerce/board of trade in Canada and one of the largest in North America. Its primary contemporary focus ...

, returning to GE Canada as CEO in 2004. Allan retired as CEO of GE Canada in 2018. She served as an economic advisor to the Canadian Government under

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

and

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

Personal life

Allan is married to Don, they have one son, and live in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. In 2014, she was awarded the Order of Canada for "her achievements as an innovative business leader and for her community involvement."

External links

GE profile

References

Living people Canadian women chief executives General Electric Tuck School of Business alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 1950s births {{Canada-business-bio-stub