[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Wilson_Convocation07.jpg” caption=”Lynton (Red) Wilson, McMaster’s new chancellor, shakes hands with a graduand at this morning’s convocation ceremony. Photo by JD Howell.”]In a ceremony that featured convocation rituals stretching back more than 700 years, Lynton (Red) Wilson was helped into the heavy gold-braided robes of office by Provost Ilene Busch-Vishniac, professor Henry Jacek and Alumni president Joseph Stephen. Wilson was formally installed as the 17th chancellor of McMaster University by President Peter George this morning.

Many dignitaries were on hand to deliver public congratulations and tributes to Wilson, including former McMaster grad Kevin Lynch, Clerk of the Privy Council, who delivered a message from Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Richard Currie, chancellor of the University of New Brunswick; Ed Lumley, chancellor of the University of Windsor; and Joseph Stephen, president of the McMaster Alumni Association.

A McMaster grad, Wilson's long and continuous service to the University over four decades is capped by his induction as chancellor. The chancellor serves as the titular head and “unpaid friend” of the University as well as a member of the University's Board of Governors and Senate. The chancellor presides at all convocations and confers all degrees and awards to graduands.