News Releases

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 24, 2012) - The University of Waterloo has appointed as chair of its Board of Governors a distinguished individual who, when he served as the most senior non-political official in Canada, advised the prime minister.

The Honourable Kevin Lynch is vice-chair, BMO Financial Group. Previously, he served as clerk of the Privy Council, where he provided non-partisan support on all policy and operational issues affecting the government. He was also secretary to the cabinet, and head of the Public Service of Canada, prior to his retirement in 2009. He served as deputy minister of finance, deputy minister of industry, and executive director for Canada at the International Monetary Fund. He assumes his role as chair of the Board of Governors at Waterloo following a term as vice-chair.

"Waterloo is fortunate to benefit from Kevin Lynch's depth of experience and knowledge," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president & vice-chancellor of Waterloo. "He brings to the role of chair his commitment to strengthening Waterloo's international impact and world-leading expertise in education and innovation."

Lynch was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2011, a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada in 2009, and has received honorary doctorates from seven Canadian universities. He holds positions on the boards of numerous organizations in the fields of health, research, and higher education, including the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Gairdner Foundation, the Ditchley Foundation, the Accounting Standards Oversight Council of Canada, the Learning Partnership, the Samara Foundation, and the Shannon School of Business. A strong advocate of excellence in higher education, Lynch was involved in the establishment of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canada Research Chairs, Genome Canada, the Vanier Scholarships and other aspects of federal investment in university research capacity.

"The University of Waterloo is a great Canadian university with the potential to be a world leader in driving innovation through our students, our research and our collaborations," said Lynch. "It is a real honour and privilege to chair the Board of Governors, which is very dedicated to Waterloo and all it stands for, and have the wonderful opportunity to work with Feridun and his team, the excellent faculty, the committed staff, the outstanding students and our alumni."

Originally from Nova Scotia, Lynch holds a BA from Mount Allison University, a MA from the University of Manchester, and a PhD from McMaster University, all in economics.

The chair of the Board of Governors has the responsibility of providing effective leadership and fulfills this responsibility through a number of means, including by ensuring the board can function independent of management, establishing procedures to govern the board's work, serving as advisor to the president, and ensuring appropriate committee structures and membership.

About the University of Waterloo

In just half a century, the University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada's technology hub, has become one of Canada's leading comprehensive universities with 34,000 full- and part-time students in undergraduate and graduate programs. Waterloo, as home to the world's largest post-secondary co-operative education program, embraces its connections to the world and encourages enterprising partnerships in learning, research and discovery. In the next decade, the university is committed to building a better future for Canada and the world by championing innovation and collaboration to create solutions relevant to the needs of today and tomorrow. For more information about Waterloo, please visit www.uwaterloo.ca.

Waterloo news release no. 33