Jim Leech named Chancellor
Jim Leech, president and CEO of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, has been chosen as the next Chancellor of Queen’s. Leech will start his three-year position at the University beginning July 1, 2014.
Leech earned his MBA from the Queen’s School of Business in 1973, and is also a graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada.
The Chancellor’s role involves presiding over convocation ceremonies, granting degrees and chairing the University Council. The Chancellor also serves as a representative and the ceremonial head of the University.
Leech will succeed current Chancellor David Dodge during fall convocation in 2014. Principal Daniel Woolf chaired the University Council committee that made the decision to appoint Leech on Oct. 18. Woolf stated that Leech’s long list of accomplishments and contributions to the University is what caused him to stand out as the best choice.
Leech has been the president and CEO of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan since 2007. He handles and represents the pensions of 303,000 current and past teachers, which total $130 billion.
Leech announced his retirement from the organization, which will become official on Jan. 1, 2014.
Leech also serves several charitable organizations in Canada. He’s the chair of the board of the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation. He’s also a part of the MasterCard foundation, and is a founding director of Right to Play International.
Leech received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 for taking part in the True Patriot Love Foundation, which aims to support military families in Canada.
– Olivia Bowden
School of Business creates joint program with Chinese university
Queen’s School of Business and Hanqing Advanced Institute of Economics and Finance of Renmin University in China have created a joint Master of Finance Program.
A Letter of Intent was signed on Oct 18. to finalize the creation of the program, which will be launched in China in Sept. 2014.
The program will take prospective students one year to complete, and is modeled after the Queen’s Master of Finance program. The curriculum is made up of 10 different courses, half of which will be taught by Renmin professors, with the other half taught by Queen’s faculty.
Every class will be taught in English while students in China will have the option to come to Canada for one Queen’s course, orientated for international students.
Along with opening the China Liaison Office in 2007, Queen’s also worked with Renmin University in March 2013 to launch an undergraduate exchange program in China in an effort to expand its international presence.
– Olivia Bowden
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