Mary Ann Turcke
{{short description|Canadian media executive}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Mary Ann Turcke
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| birth_name =
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| birth_place = Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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| education = B.S., civil engineering, Queen's University (1988)
M.S. engineering, University of Toronto (1990)
MBA, Queen's School of Business (1997)
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| employer = National Football League
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| spouse = Gordon McIlquham
| children = 2
| parents = David John Turcke
Ann Cosgrove Zarichny
}}
Mary Ann Turcke is a Canadian media executive. She worked as a civil engineer, consultant, and IT operations manager before joining BCE in 2005. There, she had assumed various management roles, including president of Bell Media from 2014 to 2017. In 2017, she was hired by the National Football League to lead its digital media division, and was promoted to chief operating officer of the NFL the following year.
She was named to the Top 100 list of Canada's Most Powerful Women by the Women's Executive Network (WXN) in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013, and was inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame in 2013.
Early life and education
Mary Ann Turcke was born and grew up in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of David John Turcke, a professor of engineering at Queen's University, and Ann Cosgrove Zarichny. She has a brother and sister, Erin and Robert.{{cite web |url=http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20131128.93332999/BDAStory/BDA/deaths|title=David John Turcke|date=28 November 2013|accessdate=8 September 2015|work=The Globe and Mail}}
She pursued her bachelor's degree in civil engineering at Queen's University, graduating in 1988. In 1990 she earned her master's degree in engineering at the University of Toronto. In 1996 she enrolled in the first Master of Business Administration program at the Smith School of Business,{{cite web|url=http://business.queensu.ca/news_blog/2014/convocation/Convocation-address-by-Mary-Ann-Turcke |title=Convocation Address by Mary Ann Turcke |publisher=Queen's School of Business |year=2014 |accessdate=8 September 2015 }}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} receiving her MBA in 1997.{{cite web |url=http://www.catalystwomenonboard.org/images/board_appointments/WOB.1486_bio_Turcke.pdf|title=Mary Ann Turcke, P. Eng, MBA|publisher=Women on Board|accessdate=8 September 2015}}
Career
Turcke began her career as a civil engineer and project manager for the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, designing and building highways and bridges.{{cite web |url=http://www.businessedge.ca/archives/article.cfm/mba-worth-weight-in-gold-to-employers-12875|title=MBA worth weight in gold to employers|date=20 June 2006|accessdate=7 September 2015|work=Business Edge}}{{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/Canada+Most+Powerful+Women/3938673/story.html|title= Top 100 Canada's Most Powerful Women|first=Pamela|last=Jeffery|date=7 December 2010|accessdate=8 September 2015|work=National Post}}
After earning her MBA, she moved to A. T. Kearney Management Consultants, primarily as a consultant to railroad clients.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=46666749&ticker=BCE:CN|title=Executive Profile: Mary Ann Turcke|work=Bloomberg Businessweek|year=2015|accessdate=7 September 2015}} In 1999 she moved to the IT sector, serving as vice president of operations and Canada general manager for Internet Pictures Corporation of Palo Alto, California, until 2001. From 2002 to 2005 she was a partner and board director at Codesta LLC.
In 2005, she joined Bell Canada as its Vice President of Customer Experience and Operations for Small Medium Businesses. overseeing a team of 1,000 employees. In 2008, she was promoted to Executive Vice President of Field Operations. In November 2014, she became Bell Media's president of media sales, before becoming the head of the division in April 2015 to replace the outgoing Kevin Crull.{{cite web |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/kevin-crull-out-as-bell-media-president-replaced-by-mary-ann-turcke-1.3026982|title= Kevin Crull out as Bell Media president, replaced by Mary Ann Turcke|work=CBC News|date=9 April 2015|accessdate=8 September 2015}}
Shortly after assuming her position, Turcke was criticized for remarks she made that classified the use of virtual private networks to evade geo-blocking and access the U.S. version of subscription-video-on-demand service Netflix as "stealing".{{cite web |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bell-media-president-urges-behavioural-shift-to-prevent-stealing/article24783094/|title= Accessing U.S. Netflix is 'stealing,' new Bell Media president says|first1=Christine|last1=Dobby|first2=James|last2=Bradshaw|date=3 June 2015|accessdate=8 September 2015|work=The Globe and Mail}}{{cite web |url= https://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2015/06/04/netflix-stealing-comment-nets-backlash-for-bell-media-chief.html|title= Netflix 'stealing' comment nets backlash for Bell Media chief|first= Paola |last=Loriggio|date=4 June 2015|accessdate=8 September 2015|work=The Toronto Star}}{{cite web |url=https://nationalpost.com/Bell+Media+leader+urges+public+shaming+combat+piracy+have+tell+people+they+stealing/11106028/story.html|title= Bell Media's new leader urges public shaming to combat piracy: 'We have to tell people they're stealing'|first= Christina |last=Pellegrini|date=3 June 2015|accessdate=7 September 2015|work=National Post}} As president, she led a major re-structuring of the company's executive staff in August 2015, in an effort to reduce its expenses.{{cite web |url= https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bell-media-launches-reshuffle-of-top-ranks/article26089966/|title= Bell Media president overhauls senior ranks, promises more departures|first=James|last=Bradshaw|date=25 August 2015|accessdate=8 September 2015|work=The Globe and Mail}}
On February 28, 2017, it was announced that Turcke would be stepping down from her position at Bell, and would be joining the National Football League as the President of NFL Media, overseeing NFL Network and the league's digital media platforms.{{cite web|title=Bell Media juggling executives as president leaves for job at NFL|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/bell-media-head-leaves-for-job-at-nfl/article34152044/|website=The Globe and Mail|accessdate=28 February 2017}} On March 13, 2018, she was promoted to chief operating officer of the NFL, replacing the outgoing Tod Leiweke. Roger Goodell praised her performance as media head, citing the success of NFL Network since her arrival. Unlike Leiweke, football operations will not report to Turcke.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2018/03/13/People-and-Pop-Culture/Tod-Leiweke.aspx|title=Tod Leiweke Leaving As NFL COO, Will Be Replaced By Maryann Turcke|website=Sports Business Daily|language=en|access-date=2018-03-14}}{{Cite news|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/football/nfl-promotes-ex-bell-media-president-turcke-to-coo/wcm/b12ec1a0-075c-4c01-8b82-678d84ba909f|title=NFL promotes ex-Bell Media president Turcke to COO|date=2018-03-13|work=Ottawa Citizen|access-date=2018-03-14|language=en-US}}
Turke left the NFL in 2020 to join the Infrastructure Partners L.P. as a Senior Advisor.{{cite web | url=https://theorg.com/org/frontier-communications/org-chart/maryann-turcke | title=Maryann Turcke - Director at Frontier Communications }}
In February 2023, Turcke was appointed to the board of Skyworks Solutions.{{cite news| date= February 9, 2023| title= Skyworks Appoints Maryann Turcke to its Board of Directors| url= https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230209005051/en/Skyworks-Appoints-Maryann-Turcke-to-its-Board-of-Directors| work= businesswire| access-date= June 12, 2024}}
Other activities
Turcke chairs the boards of Bell Technical Solutions and Expertech Corporation. In 2012, she was named to the board of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. She is also a member of the advisory boards of the Smith School of Business, the capital campaign for the Queen's Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science(Smith Engineering) since 2019, and Sheena's Place, an organization for people with eating disorders.{{cite web |url= http://sheenasplace.org/about-sheenas-place/board-of-directors/|title=Board of Directors|publisher=Sheena's Place|accessdate=8 September 2015}} In 2016, Turcke joined the board of SickKids.{{cite web |url= https://www.sickkidsfoundation.com/aboutus/governanceandstaff/boardofdirectors|title= Board of Directors|author=|website= SickKids Foundation|publisher= SickKids|access-date= June 12, 2024|quote=}} She previously served on the boards of the Professional Engineers of Ontario (1993 to 1995), the Kingston Yacht Club (1996), CIBC Run for the Cure (2002), and the Tarragon Theatre (2006 to 2008).
Honors
Turcke was named to the Women's Executive Network's list of Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013. In 2013, she was inducted into the WXN Hall of Fame.{{cite web |url= http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/four-bell-leaders-named-to-the-list-of-canadas-most-powerful-women-513362181.html|title= Four Bell leaders named to the list of Canada's Most Powerful Women|date=3 December 2013|accessdate=7 September 2015|publisher=CNW}}
In February 2015 Turcke was named Woman of the Year by Women in Communications and Technology.{{cite web |url= http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bell-medias-mary-ann-turcke-named-woman-of-the-year-by-women-in-communications-and-technology-292237191.html|title= Bell Media's Mary Ann Turcke named Woman of the Year by Women in Communications and Technology|date=15 February 2015|accessdate=7 September 2015|publisher=PR Newswire}} Also in 2015, she was named one of the Top 25 Women of Influence by the Women of Influence organization.{{cite web|url=https://www.womenofinfluence.ca/top-25-cover-contest/|title=4th Annual Top 25 Women of Influence|year=2015|accessdate=7 September 2015|publisher=Women of Influence|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150821231334/http://www.womenofinfluence.ca/top-25-cover-contest/|archive-date=21 August 2015|url-status=dead}}
Personal life
Turcke is married to Gordon McIlquham, also a native of Kingston, Ontario. McIlquham represented Canada in sailing at the 1988 Summer Olympics, competing in the men's two-person dinghy (470) class with Nigel Cochrane; the team placed 8th.{{cite web |url= https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mc/gordon-mcilquham-1.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181127022609/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mc/gordon-mcilquham-1.html|url-status= dead|archive-date= 27 November 2018|title=Gordon McIlquham|year=2015|work=Sports Reference|accessdate=8 September 2015}} Turcke, McIlquham, and their two daughters are all sailing enthusiasts and race on the same team out of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.{{cite web |url=http://www.keyyachting.com/news/j-boat-news/ |title= McIlquham Wins J22 Canadians|date=9 August 2010|publisher=J Boat News|accessdate=8 September 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_race_scores.php?regatta_id=2443&race_num=2&fleet=J%2F22&show_crew=1 |title= 2010 J-22 North American Championship – Race 2|date=19 August 2010|accessdate=8 September 2015|publisher=Regatta Network}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cork.org/news/2011-laser-master-canadian-championship-and-j22-canadian-championship/|title=2011 Laser Master Canadian Championship and J22 Canadian Championship|date=12 July 2011|accessdate=8 September 2015|publisher=cork.org|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175157/http://www.cork.org/news/2011-laser-master-canadian-championship-and-j22-canadian-championship/|archivedate=23 September 2015}}{{cite web |url=http://www.goxavier.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=42|title=Emily McIlquham – 2013 Women's Volleyball|year=2015|accessdate=8 September 2015|publisher=Go Xavier}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://speeches.empireclub.org/69568/data "How to Create a Culture of Innovation" panel discussion] The Empire Club of Canada, February 5, 2009
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turcke, Mary Ann}}
Category:Businesspeople from Ontario
Category:Canadian women business executives
Category:Canadian civil engineers
Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Category:University of Toronto alumni
Category:Canadian female sailors (sport)