Member of the Order of Canada
- Awarded on: November 21, 2013
- Invested on: February 13, 2015
For his leadership in arts education, notably as president of Emily Carr University.
Ron Burnett has had a lasting impact on arts education in Canada. Throughout his academic career, he has contributed to the development of film and cultural studies in Canada, notably as the founder of Ciné-Tracts, an early Canadian cultural studies journal. A forerunner in the widespread use of social media, he was among the first 20 years ago to establish a website and weblog, still visited today as a forum for meaningful communication. As president and vice-chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art and Design for the past 18 years, he has overseen a significant expansion of the institution and its conversion into a university, and is credited with keeping the school on the cutting edge of technology, design and art.