Suzanne Fortier served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University from September 2013 to September 2022. Before she was appointed as the Principal, she was the President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), holding positions such as Vice-Principal (Academic), Vice-Principal (Research) and Professor of Chemistry at Queen's University.

A native of St-Timothée, Québec, Canada, Professor Fortier graduated from McGill with a BSc (1972) and a PhD in Crystallography (1976). Her research has focused on developing mathematical and artificial intelligence methodologies for protein structure determination

Professor Fortier was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2018 and is also an officer of France’s National Order of Merit. She holds honorary doctorates from Thompson Rivers University, Carleton University, and the University of Glasgow.

Professor Fortier has served on many Boards and Committees, including as Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global University Leaders Forum (GULF). She is currently a Member of the Board of Governors of the Technion Israel Institute of Technology and the Advisory Boards of the University of the People, HEC Paris and the Université de Bordeaux.