Canada’s new Governor General is the ultimate STEM role model
By Jessica Dassanayake

Julie Payette was recently announced to be the new Governor General of Canada, and I can’t help but admire her lengthy list of skills and accomplishments. The 53-year old from Montreal will be the first Governor General from the science and tech industry, and there is no doubt that she will be promoting women in leadership. The mother is also widely expected to use her platform to encourage young Canadians to enter STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) fields.
In 1992, Payette was picked by the Canadian Space Agency out of 5,330 applicants to become one of four new astronauts. She was the second Canadian woman in space and the first Canadian to visit the International Space Station. She has spent over 611 hours in space over two journeys. Payette has held the roles of technical advisor, mission specialist, flight engineer, and the CSA’s chief astronaut.

As a woman working towards a career in STEM, I got really interested and inspired by her STEM background. She was educated at McGill University and the University of Toronto in engineering and applied science. Before she became an astronaut in 1992, Payette worked with IBM Canada as a system engineer. She researched natural language processing and automatic speech recognition in her computer science work.
And if that wasn’t enough to make you fall in love with the new GG, she also speaks many languages. She speaks French and English, and also can carry a conversation in Spanish, German, Italian and Russian. She even plays the piano, flute, and sings… this woman does it all!

Payette is extremely well-rounded. She has been a computer engineer, corporate director, scientific broadcaster, and astronaut. What really warms my heart, however, is that she is a strong advocate for promoting science and technology.
Payette is the fourth female Governor General of Canada, and there is no doubt that all eyes are on this accomplished woman to see what her next steps are. She is the ultimate STEM role model, not just for young girls dreaming of being an astronaut, but for everyone.
