Sworn in on October 1, 2010, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston is the 28th governor general since Confederation.

David Johnston began his professional career as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University in 1966, moving to the Law Faculty at the University of Toronto in 1968. He became dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario in 1974. In 1979, he was named principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University, and in July 1994, he returned to the McGill Faculty of Law as a full-time professor. In June 1999, he became the fifth president of the University of Waterloo.

Mr. Johnston has served on many provincial and federal task forces and committees. He was president of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and of the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec. He was the founding chair of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, chaired the federal government’s Information Highway Advisory Council, and served as the first non-American chair of the Board of Overseers at Harvard University. He is the author or co-author of two dozen books, holds honorary doctorates from over a dozen universities, and has been awarded the Order of Canada (Companion).

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean was the Patron of CNIS from 2006 until 2010. Michaëlle Jean was born on September 6, 1957 in Port au Prince, Haiti to a schoolteacher father and a nurse mother. Her father was jailed and tortured under Duvalier's dictatorship and the family fled the country when Jean was 11. They came as refugees to Canada in 1968, settling in Thetford Mines, Quebec. During her studies, Jean worked with Quebec shelters for battered women and contributed to the establishment of a network of emergency shelters in Canada. Jean worked as a journalist and broadcaster for Radio-Canada and CBC. Fluent in five languages - French, English, Italian, Spanish and Haitian Creole - Michäelle Jean is the first black Governor General of Canada.

 

The Honourable Roméo LeBlanc (1927-2009), Governor General from 1995-1999, was Patron of CNIS. He had a long and distinguished career in public service. LeBlanc is remembered for putting a compassionate face on the vice-regal position, opening the grounds of Rideau Hall to the public, creating an award for volunteerism and reaching out to the Francophone community.

The Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn (1934 – 2002) was also patron of CNIS. He was a Canadian politician and states man who served as Governor General from 1989-1995, the 24th since Canada's confederation. He is remembered for the openness he brought to the office, as well as for the support he gave to the arts in Canada. Hnatyshyn also established the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law, recognizing outstanding contribution to the law or legal scholarship in Canada.