Dr. Annette Trimbee
President and Vice-Chancellor
University of Winnipeg
Dr. Annette Trimbee assumed the role of President and Vice-Chancellor at The University of Winnipeg on August 1, 2014.
Dr. Trimbee was Deputy Minister of Service Alberta.Dr. Trimbee also served as the Deputy Minister of Treasury Board and Finance, Treasury Board and Enterprise, and Advanced Education and Technology in Alberta. She began her career in the public service with Alberta Environment and has also held leadership positions in Alberta Health and Wellness.
I grew up in Transcona, as did my mom and dad. I am from a family of six kids and both of my parents were from families with eight kids. Even though there has been some drift to the West, I still have lots of relatives that call Winnipeg home. Both of my brothers and their families live here.
UWinnipeg’s commitment to serving Aboriginal students really appeals to me. Like many kids growing up in the 1960s in Winnipeg I was confused about my heritage. My parents both spoke French as their mother tongue but all of their siblings married partners who did not.They stopped speaking French at home before I was born. My grandmother on my dad’s side was pretty clear that she was Metis and yet my dad said we were not. I understand my parents’ choices but at the same time do wish times were different and my parents had continued to speak French at home and celebrated our Metis heritage. My Metis grandmother had a huge influence on me.
I graduated with a BSc in Biology and went on to do a PhD and post-doc with the dream of coming back to UWinnipeg to be a Biology professor.
As an aquatic ecologist, much of my time was spent collecting data in the field and in labs doing analysis. I got to know people in government for two reasons- they had tons of data, and they had grant money to fund research that was intended to inform public policy.
I am married to Kevin, who is an advanced care paramedic, and we have two adult children – a daughter and a son.
