TORONTO, Dec. 21 /CNW/ - Charles Sirois, Chair of the Board, CIBC(CM:TSX; NYSE), is pleased to announce that Katharine B. Stevenson is joining the CIBC Board of Directors, effective Jan. 1, 2011.

Ms. Stevenson is a corporate director with more than 20 years experience as a senior financial executive in Canada and the United States.

Ms. Stevenson is a member of the Board of Directors of both CAE Inc. and Open Text Corporation. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. and served as a director of OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2005 until its sale in 2010.

Ms. Stevenson held a series of financial executive roles with Nortel Networks and J.P. Morgan Chase, in both Canada and the United States. Her experience ranges from senior corporate financial roles to underwriting and arranging public and private debt and equity offerings, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, as well as providing financial advice to major multinationals based in North America.

She is a graduate of the Harvard University and holds the professional designation ICD.D from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Ms. Stevenson's not-for-profit experience is focused on education. She is Governor and past Chair of the Board of Bishop Strachan School and a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Guelph.