Elspeth has served as the associate dean – M.B.A. and masters programs since 2012, and has been a professor of strategy and new ventures at the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University since 1996. She also holds the CIBC Fellowship in Entrepreneurship, and founded the Queen’s Centre for Business Venturing. Prior to joining Queen’s, she worked in industry for seven years for several firms including IBM and Canadian Tire. As an integral part of her work in the strategy and new venture fields, she specializes in the management of change. In 2002, Elspeth co-authored a best-selling book, Fast Forward: Organizational Change in 100 Days, from Oxford University Press, with Dr. Peter Richardson.

Elspeth teaches on many Smith M.B.A. and executive education programs, and consults widely with a diversity of firms including BMW, Detour Gold, Wawanesa Insurance, Versacold Logistics and the Auditor General for Canada. She serves as a director for several firms and is an advisor to several start-ups and CEOs.

Elspeth received an undergraduate degree in computer science and mathematics, and an M.B.A., both from Queen’s University. Her doctorate in strategy and management information systems was completed at the Richard Ivey School of Business.

She currently lives in Kingston, Ontario and has two children, both of them TCS graduates: Stephanie Kelley ’08 and Patrick Kelley ’10.