Dr. Penny Le Couteur is the Dean of Arts & Science at Capilano College where she has taught chemistry for 40 years. She has a Ph.D in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed her M.Sc. and B.Sc. at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

She wrote Napolean's Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History, and is the author of the textbook Chemistry - A Second Course under the development of the Department of Chemistry at Capilano College. Dr. Le Couteur has also contributed to curriculum development in many original and ongoing courses in the department.

She is a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry. She is a member of and past-president of both the Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology and the College of Chemistry Canada.