Ojars Kupcis is the Past-Chairman (2001-04) of the Canadian Nuclear Association; a national business organization promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy technologies in Canada and abroad. He is the Past-President (1997-99) of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO); an organization that is singularly focused on nuclear safety improvement with membership encompassing all utilities in the world that operate nuclear power plants. Ojars was the President and CEO of Ontario Hydro from 1995 to 1997 and its President & COO from 1993 to 1995. He began his career at Ontario Hydro in 1973 as a Research Engineer.

Among his current board activities, Ojars is a director and member of the Audit Committee of Hydro Ottawa Ltd.; a director of the Energy Council of Canada; a director of Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. in Toronto; a director of BlueBalloon Health Services Inc.; a director of Hellenic Geothermal Holdings Corp.; on the Advisory Board of Hatch Global and the International Technical Advisory Committee for Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited (NEIL) in Delaware. He also chaired a Task Force on Nuclear Event Definition for the World Nuclear Association (WNA) in London (UK) and has worked on several energy sector assignments in developing countries for the World Bank. Ojars has also served as the first Chairman of Integran Technologies Inc. (1999-2003) and was a director and Chair of the Governance & HR Committee of the Technical Standards & Safety Authority (TSSA) of Ontario (2004-09); a director on the boards of Synexus Global Inc., Acres Management Consulting Ltd., and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in Winnipeg, as well as serving as a member of the Advisory Council for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) in Atlanta (2001-07) and the Advisory Board for Northland Power International in Toronto.

Ojars’s current public affiliations include serving on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto and the Nuclear Program Advisory Committee at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. He also served on the Campaign Cabinet for the 1997 and 1998 Greater Toronto United Way Campaign. In 1992, he was awarded the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation.

Dr. Kupcis attended the University of Toronto where he obtained an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science Degree (1966) in Engineering Science (Nuclear Option), a Masters of Applied Science Degree (1968), and a Ph.D. (1970) in Metallurgy and Materials Science. He subsequently attended Oxford University, England on a NATO Scholarship for Post-Doctoral studies in Materials Science. He is married to Baiba and they have two daughters.

Ojars is a registered member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario; a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering; and a member of the Latvian student fraternity PATRIA.