After a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer, former University of Calgary board chair Geeta Hanamantagouda Sankappanavar passed away on Feb. 20, 2025, at the age of 50.
A respected business leader in Calgary, Geeta was appointed the chair of UCalgary's Board of Governors on Aug. 16, 2019. During her three years as chair, she helped guide the university through unprecedented times as the world grappled with a global pandemic.
Geeta Sankappanavar
"Even when times were tough, Geeta Sankappanavar never wavered in her support of this university," said President Ed McCauley. "Thoughtful, passionate and kind, I will be forever thankful for her guidance, friendship, and support of this campus through COVID and beyond."
For Geeta, education was always something worth fighting for.
It was as she was completing her own undergraduate degree in economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that Geeta was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Ewing sarcoma. She would never let cancer keep her from her dreams of graduating MIT and making her mark.
Launching an impressive finance career that saw her living and working through the United States, Germany and India, Geeta chose to make Calgary her home in 2009. She founded several successful startup companies across energy, investing and finance services sectors. Her unwavering belief in the power of education led her to volunteer with the University of Calgary, while also supporting organizations like UNICEF Canada, Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund, Norlien Foundation and the Loran Scholarship Fund.
Over the years, Geeta received numerous accolades including being named One of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women, Calgary's Energy Women Executive of the Year, and receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
She always wanted to impart the lessons life taught her to the next generation.
"I like to share three lessons whenever I speak in public," Geeta said in an MIT Alumni article. "The first is the value of hard work. The second is the value of relationships. And the third is that life looks a lot different in the rearview mirror than it does when you are living it."
The University of Calgary flag will be lowered on Feb. 24, 2025, in her honour.
A memorial service will be planned in Calgary in the near future.
