New Chancellor at Con U
Concordia’s board of governors appointed Jacques Ménard, the chairman of investment firm BMO Nesbitt Burns, as the university’s new chancellor on Dec. 9.
Concordia’s seventh chancellor, Ménard will replace David P. O’Brien, the chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada, in the largely honorary position. The university chancellor’s main responsibility is to preside at occasions like convocation.
Despite the appointment and the listing of Ménard on the board’s roll, Concordia has yet to officially announce his appointment.
“We are holding off until we have Mr. Ménard available to answer questions before making the announcement,” said university spokesperson Chris Mota. “The press release has been written for a month.”As president of the BMO Financial Group in Quebec, Ménard oversees all of the bank’s operations in the province. The new chancellor also sits on a number of other boards in Quebec and Ontario, including the Montreal Heart Institute, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Alouettes, HEC Montreal and the Glendon College at York University.
The chancellor also sits on the boards of a number of economic and political organizations, including the Institute for Research on Public Policy, the Trudeau Foundation and the Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress. While all of these organizations are listed as non-partisan, they support the industrial funding of research at universities and the “preventative detention” of terrorists.
Closer to Quartier Concordia, Ménard also sits on the board of Claridge Investments, the Bronfman-controlled firm that is building the Seville condo complex near the Faubourg, the proposed site of the recently defeated student centre.
Ménard’s official appointment is expected this week.
This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 18, published January 11, 2011.
__600_375_90_s_c1.jpg)