David & Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety & Risk Management
Gordon Winkel, PEng, MSc, FCSSE
Chair & Industrial Professor - Dean's Office
David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management University of Alberta
Retired as a Vice President for Syncrude Canada Ltd., Gord Winkel joined the University of Alberta in 2010 as Chair and Industrial Professor for the Safety and Risk Management Program in the Faculty of Engineering. In this capacity, he provided safety and risk management education to final year engineering students and has worked to make this a core competency requirement for all engineering disciplines. In April of 2016, Gord was announced as Director of the David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, and in 2021 continued on as the Chair and an Industrial Professor for the School. Gord has worked extensively in the oil sands mining industry. He joined the Imperial Oil/ExxonMobil organization as a Vice President on Loan from SyncrudeCanada Ltd. to advance the Kearl Oil Sands Project. Gord was Vice President, of Aurora Bitumen Production at Syncrude Canada Ltd., served as General Manager of Extraction, was Manager of Extraction Operations and formerly Manager of Mine Maintenance/Operations again with Syncrude.
His work to improve workplace safety led to a Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Canadian Institute of Mining in 2002. His work to advance the Surface Mining Industry through sharing knowledge, technology, best practices and innovation has led to a second Distinguished Lecturer Award from the Canadian Institute of mining in 2008. A third such award was received in 2013 for leadership advancing safety excellence in the global mining industry. In 2019, Gord was awarded the national CIM Mining Safety Leadership Metal recognizing exceptional contribution by an individual or organization towards improving mining health and safety results within the mining industry in Canada through innovative means.
On the healthcare front, Gord is a member of the Alberta Health Services Quality and Safety Advisory Committee reporting in to the Alberta Health ServicesBoard. He is also supporting the Alberta Agriculture Industry as an Executive Advisor on the AgSafe Alberta Board. In addition, he Chairs the University of Alberta BioSafety Committee, the Enhanced Biocontainment Standing Committee and the Engineering Faculty Safety Committee.
Gord was recently elected as Chair of the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires Federation for Canada, supporting an organization with 22,000 plus employees that provides meaningful employment for our veterans and their families. Gord supports the Canadian Institute of Mining through chairing the J.T. RyanMining Safety Committee and as an Executive Board member for their newly established Safety Society. Provincially Gord is an Executive Advisor for the Alberta Mining Safety Association.
Gord also works to provide support in safety, risk management and organization effectiveness to firms across Canada.