M. Carol Ryder has worked extensively in private enterprise, not for profit and with all three levels of government over the course of her professional and volunteer careers.  She is serving her third term as the Board Chair of the Board of Governors of Alberta University of the Arts. During her oversight AUArts has evolved from Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) to their present status as Alberta’s sole University dedicated to Arts and Design and being one of four in Canada.
 
Her leadership over the past 19 years in post-secondary education includes being past chair of the Board of Governors of Bow Valley College where her role included the major development and expansion of the college.  Other roles have included being the past Chair of the Council of Chairs for the Alberta Association of Colleges and Technical Institutes,  Founding and Past Chair of the Bow Valley College’s Art Acquisition and Collection Committee, and past member of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges. She is a current member of Campus Alberta.
 
Ms Ryder has also served as a board member of the Alberta’s Promise – Premier’s Advisory Committee and was instrumental in bringing Calgary’s arts community together as a founding chair under one organization
Contemporary Calgary, of which she still serves as a board member.   She has held senior positions in many other civic and national boards over the years.
 
She was twice awarded the Premier’s Leadership Award for outstanding leadership and volunteer service, as well as the Lighthouse Award from the Calgary Board of Education for outstanding community service. She is a recipient of the 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal in recognition of her community leadership. Bow Valley College bestowed their Distinguished Citizen’s Award for Leadership and Community Service for her service to the college and Albertans. She was the recipient of a 2012 Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her years of service to Alberta and Canada.
 
Residing in Calgary, Alberta,  Ms. Ryder is an active partner and director in her family’s property management company and real estate holdings, Louson Investments Ltd. a Calgary based company.