Meet Your New President

Bram Freedman to Step In for Woodsworth

NewsChristopher Curtis — Published January 4, 2011

The board appointed Freedman to his new post following Woodsworth’s resignation on Dec. 22. According to Concordia spokesperson Chris Mota, Freedman will only serve as president for a few weeks. Once an interim president is appointed, the search for a permanent replacement for Woodsworth should take “about six months to a year,” Mota said.

Freedman began working for Concordia in 1992 as assistant legal council. He eventually became the university’s assistant secretary-general and general counsel. He held those posts until his departure from Concordia in 2003.

Freedman spent the next four years as the chief operating officer and director of external relations at Combined Jewish Appeal. He left the CJA in 2007 when the university’s board appointed him as VP external relations and secretary general.

The senior administrator remains largely unknown to students and local media, but Freedman became the object of minor scrutiny while testifying before the Quebec Labour Board in October. After investigating receipts from Freedman’s expense account, a lawyer representing two dismissed Concordia auditors found that Freedman had used university money to buy a cordless telephone for his home.

This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 17, published January 4, 2011.