Wilson to be inducted as chancellor at fall convocation
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/lrw.jpg” caption=”Lynton (Red) Wilson is the 17th chancellor of McMaster University. File photo.”]Lynton (Red) Wilson will be inducted as the 17th chancellor of McMaster University at the fall convocation. The ceremony will be conducted on the morning of Friday, Nov. 16.
Wilson will then preside over the 447th convocation for the conferring of degrees for the DeGroote School of Business, the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Arts and Science Program.
During the afternoon convocation on the same day, Wilson will award degrees to the graduating classes of Health Sciences, Engineering and Science. He will also award honorary degrees to McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum and her husband, screenwriter Leonard Blum.
Appointed by the University Senate, the chancellor is the titular head of the University elected for a three-year-term. In addition to presiding at convocations and conferring all university degrees, Wilson will act as ambassador to McMaster students and graduates worldwide, as well as to the wider community.
“Red's generous support to McMaster has already fostered a more stimulating and innovative learning environment, and we are fortunate to be represented by such an inspiring person,” says McMaster University president Peter George.
A distinguished McMaster graduate with an Honours BA in economics (1962) and an MA in international economics from Cornell University, Wilson is chairman of CAE Inc. and a founding co-chairman of the Historica Foundation of Canada.
His career spans both public service and the private sector, including appointments as Ontario Deputy Minister of Industry and Tourism; president, CEO and chairman of Redpath Industries Ltd; president, CEO and chairman of BCE Inc. and chairman of the board of Nortel Networks Corporation.
Wilson is an Officer of the Order of Canada (1977) and holds six honorary university degrees, including one from McMaster (1995). Born in Port Colborne, Ont., he is married to Brenda Jean Black, has two daughters and one son, and resides in Oakville, Ont.
Wilson has been a generous supporter of McMaster. In 2004, he donated $1 million to establish the L.R. Wilson Professor in Canadian History in McMaster's Faculty of Humanities. He has been a benefactor of student scholarships and has supported an endowed chair in data communications in the Faculty of Engineering.
He also chaired the Changing Tomorrow Today campaign and is currently a member of the Campaign Cabinet Executive Committee for The Campaign for McMaster University.
Former Hamilton residents Len Blum and Heather Munroe-Blum met as students at Hamilton's Westdale Secondary School.
Len Blum attended McMaster while working as a musician in low-budget recording studios. Upon graduation, he wrote songs and produced radio commercials while playing bass in a wedding band.
He wrote a small cabaret show for Toronto's Tarragon Theatre, and went on to write the feature film Meatballs, winning the Genie Award for Best Screenplay in 1980. He has since written a number of successful Hollywood movies, including Stripes, Heavy Metal, Feds, Beethoven's 2nd and Private Parts.
Heather Munroe-Blum has been principal of McGill University since 2003. She began her academic career at McMaster in 1976.
A major recipient of research funding for studies of the epidemiology and treatment of schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, adolescent conduct and depressive disorders, Munroe-Blum worked at McMaster as a clinician, lecturer and assistant professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatics.
