Michael Hartmann

Michael Hartmann is a jointly appointed Professor of Medicine and Management at McMaster University, Co-Director of the University’s Health Leadership Academy, and Principal of The Directors College – Canada’s founding professional development program for board directors (2003-2021). He also serves as the founding Executive Director of an EMBA program in Digital Transformation teaching courses on Corporate Innovation and Digital Entrepreneurship.

Dr. Hartmann has held senior leadership roles with universities in the UK and Canada. He previously served as Deputy Dean and CXO, Manchester Business School (2007-2012), and Assistant Dean, Rotman School of Management (1998-2007) where he established a globally ranked executive education business (Top 20 Business Week and Top 50 Financial Times). He is also the Founder and Principal of the educational consultancy, The Leadership Portfolio.

Dr. Hartmann has over 25 years of experience as an educational consultant, facilitator, and trainer to organizations around the world. A sample of his client assignments includes work for Novartis (Switzerland), Ziraat Bank (Turkey), Thales Group (France), JCB (USA), Omantel (Oman), Al-Futtaim Group (Dubai), Manchester Airport Groups, British Sky Broadcasting, NBCUniversal (UK), the NHS, Dentsu Aegis Network (Singapore, New York, London), BDO, SOCAN and OMERS (Canada). His current teaching and research interests focus on the topics of disruptive innovation and governance. He leads an annual course on innovation for board directors and is a member of the advisory board of Stanford’s Digital Cities and Global Projects Centre and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Technology, Governance, and Innovation Panel.

Dr. Hartmann holds graduate degrees from the University of Toronto (MA) and York University (MBA) and a PhD from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He also holds professional accreditation with The Directors College (C.Dir.) and le Collège des administrateurs de sociétés (ASC). His work on corporate governance and executive and directors education has been published in academic journals as well as the professional press. He also hosts a webinar and podcast series called “The Collaboratorium” that explores emerging governance and leadership topics in business and healthcare.