Julie Payette

Julie Payette, born on October twentieth, nineteen sixty-three, is a distinguished Canadian engineer, scientist, and former astronaut who made history as the twenty-ninth governor general of Canada from two thousand seventeen to two thousand twenty-one.

With engineering degrees from McGill University and the University of Toronto, Payette began her career as a research scientist before joining the Canadian Space Agency in nineteen ninety-two as a member of the Canadian Astronaut Corps. She completed two remarkable spaceflights, STS-96 and STS-127, accumulating over twenty-five days in space. Her expertise also led her to serve as a capsule communicator at NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston and as the chief astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency from two thousand to two thousand seven.

In July two thousand thirteen, Payette took on the role of chief operating officer for the Montreal Science Centre and held several board appointments, including one with the National Bank of Canada. On July thirteenth, two thousand seventeen, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced her appointment as the next governor general of Canada, a position she was officially invested in on October second, two thousand seventeen.

However, her tenure was marred by controversy, leading to her resignation on January twenty-first, two thousand twenty-one, following a workplace review that revealed allegations of creating a toxic and verbally abusive environment for staff at Rideau Hall. This made her the first governor general to resign due to scandal and the second overall to leave the office.