In August 2015, UBC announced that Piper had been appointed as interim president, to serve from September 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016, while "the university conducts a comprehensive, global search for a new leader" following the sudden resignation of Toope's successor Arvind Gupta.
[2] Piper currently sits on numerous boards in Canada, including for the Bank of Montreal, Shoppers Drug Mart and the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education.
After completing her PhD, Piper was the director of McGill's School of Physical and Occupational Therapy until 1985, when she became the dean of the University of Alberta's Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Upon becoming president of the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 1997, Piper inherited a strong record of external fundraising and research development from her predecessor, David Strangway.
[citation needed] The Georgia Straight reported on August 24, 2006, that Piper has become a member of the Trilateral Commission, an organization of influential private citizens founded in 1973 at the initiative of banker David Rockefeller.