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News Release

June 13, 2007

Pamela Wallin Installed as Chancellor

Pamela Wallin, an accomplished and esteemed journalist, diplomat and entrepreneur, was installed today as chancellor of the University of Guelph.

She is the seventh person and the second woman to hold the position since the University’s founding in 1964.
During a heartfelt and inspirational convocation address, Wallin stressed the power of education and the importance of lifelong learning and open-mindedness.

“Education is about the ability to be changed by what you have learned,” she told graduates, faculty, staff, students and community members. “Education helps bridge the gap between aspiration and achievement.”

Learning, she added, “is not about knowing for knowing’s sake. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”

Wallin was installed by president Alastair Summerlee and honoured by Lincoln Alexander, who was U of G chancellor for an unprecedented 15 years. Alexander has been named University chancellor emeritus and will continue to serve Guelph in ceremonial roles, including participating in some public events and convocations.

During the ceremony, Alexander described Wallin as intelligent, articulate "mover and shaker who is ideally suited to be the seventh chancellor of this wonderful university.”

As chancellor, Wallin will preside at convocations, confer University degrees and act as an ambassador to graduates. She will also serve as Guelph’s senior volunteer and represent its interests to local, provincial and federal governments.

During her address, Wallin praised U of G for having vision and courage. “I am proud to be part of this extraordinary place that has become a world leader in providing answers to real-world problems,” she said.

“It is a university that wisely uses its strengths its traditions — the Ontario Agricultural College and the Ontario Veterinary College — to fast-forward into the 21st century.”

Wallin’s career has spanned more than 30 years and several continents, including numerous positions at CBC and CTV. She is currently the senior adviser to the president of the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas in New York. She recently completed a four-year term as consul general of Canada in New York and serves on the boards of many Canadian corporations, including CTVglobemedia.

She holds an honours degree in psychology and political science from the University of Regina and she has received 13 honorary degrees, including an honorary doctorate of laws from Guelph in 2006. She is the author of three books, including the bestselling memoir Since You Asked.

Wallin’s installation was also attended by government officials; representatives of the Council of Ontario Universities, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and other Canadian universities; as well as members of U of G’s Board of Governors.

Guelph’s former chancellors and their years of service are: Edmund Bovey, past president of the Art Gallery of Ontario, 1989 to 1990; William Stewart, former Ontario minister of agriculture, 1983 to 1989; Pauline McGibbon, former Ontario lieutenant-governor, 1977 to 1983; Emmett Hall, former chief justice of Saskatchewan and member of the Supreme Court of Canada, 1971 to 1977; and George Drew, former mayor of Guelph, premier of Ontario and Canada high commissioner to the United Kingdom, 1965 to 1971.