Marc Parent was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of CAE in August 2009.
Mr. Parent joined CAE in February 2005 as Group President, Simulation Products, responsible for the company’s civil simulation products business, as well as the design, manufacture and support of products for the company’s civil and military training businesses. His role was expanded in May 2006, when he was appointed Group President, Simulation Products and Military Training & Services. In November 2008, he was named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for all four of CAE’s business segments and new growth initiatives.
Mr. Parent has more than 25 years of experience in the aerospace industry. He started his career in 1984 with Canadair as an engineer on the Challenger and Canadair regional jet programs. Beginning in 1993, he held positions of increasing scope in aircraft product development, starting as head of the Challenger 604 program development team; in 1995, he headed the Q400 turboprop aircraft development program; and in 1998, he was promoted to Vice President, Program Management, with responsibilities covering all Bombardier aircraft development programs.
From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Parent held numerous executive positions within Bombardier Aerospace, leading a number of facilities and product lines. In 2000, he held the position of Vice President, Operations, at Bombardier’s de Havilland site in Toronto; in 2001, he was promoted to Vice President and General Manager of Operations of the Toronto facility; in 2003, he held the position of Vice President and General Manager, U.S. Operations, with responsibilities encompassing Learjet facilities in Wichita and Tucson; and in March 2004, he returned to Montreal as Vice President and General Manager of Challenger 300, 604, and 850/870 programs, as well as the CRJ 200 Regional Aircraft product line.
Mr. Parent was honoured in 1999 as one of “Canada’s Top 40 under 40” leaders. He was also selected as a 2010 Fellow of SAE International for his leadership and contributions in aircraft product development and for his successes at Bombardier and CAE. He received the 2005 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Aerospace Engineering Leadership Award, and is a past recipient of the SAE Forest R. McFarland award. In February 2011, Marc Parent was named Canadian Defence Review’s first ever Defence Executive of the Year.
Mr. Parent has been a member of CAE’s Board of Directors since November 2008. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CADSI) since March 2008, of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) since October 2007, and was the AIAC’s Chairman of the Board from September 2009 to August 2010.
Mr. Parent also held the position of Chairman of the Board for Aero Montreal from October 2008 to April 2010 and continues in his role as member of its Board of Directors.
A native of Montreal, Mr. Parent is a graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Montreal’s École Polytechnique and of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by Polytechnique Montréal.
by Marc
