Trina McQueen , BJ / 64

As one of Canada’s most respected and gifted journalists, McQueen is largely considered a trailblazer, her career successes constituting a series of “firsts” for women. Graduating from Carleton in 1964, McQueen parlayed her student newspaper job into a stint with the Ottawa Journal, eventually becoming the first female reporter for CFTO and co-host for CTV’s current affairs magazine show, W5.

She joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1967, becoming the first female on-camera reporter for The National news and its first female executive producer in 1976 at the age of 33.

Spending 25 years at the CBC, she oversaw the launch of CBC Newsworld and the popular Discovery channel before becoming executive vice-president of CTV Inc.

The Carleton University Alumni Association presented her with the 1999 A.D. Dunton Alumni Award, largely for her pioneering roles in front of the camera to the newsrooms and boardrooms of the country’s major broadcasting organizations. She has been at the forefront of change over the past three decades in the Canadian broadcasting industry.