Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Cannon developed an early interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
[1] Cannon has led research at the forefront of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) since 1984, commercializing technology to over 200 agencies worldwide.
Cannon has also served as the Chair of Universities Canada, as Co-Chair of the Business-Higher Education Roundtable, and as a member of the Board of Governors of Sidra Medicine in Qatar.
[4] Prior to her appointment as president, Cannon was the dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary from 2006 to 2010.
[13] In 2011, she was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for the innovative use of GPS data for a wide range of applications and for pioneering the field of geomatics.