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Board of Governors lock and load

By Devin Jones

The search for Ryerson University’s next president is officially under way.

The latest Ryerson Board of Governors meeting, which took place Monday night in Jorgenson Hall, announced the final seven candidates that will make up the 13-member presidential search committee.

The committee’s mandate will be to find the replacement for current president Sheldon Levy when he steps down from his position in the spring of 2015.

“The [presidential] committee will solicit input from the community and stakeholders throughout the search process,” said Phyllis Yaffe, chair of the committee, on the Board of Governors’ website.

Senate selected their four members in a Jan. 14 vote.

Other members include: Mohamed Lachemi, the provost and vice-president academic, faculty member Nancy Walton from the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Usha George, dean for the Faculty of Community Services and faculty member David Checkland from Ryerson’s department of philosophy.

Yaffe will serve as chair of the committee with colleague Janice Fukakusa as vice-chair.

The final seven members of the presidential committee include:

Curtis Yim — Yim is a fourth-year marketing student. He is also president of Enactus Ryerson, a member of the Digital Media Zone Steering Committee and a Ryerson Fashion Zone advisor. He is the only student on the committee.

Darius Sookram — Sookram has a Ryerson bachelor of arts degree in politics, as well as a master of arts degree in public policy and administration. He is also co-president of the public policy and administration alumni association.

Jack Cockwell —  Cockwell was reappointed to the board in 2005 and was appointed vice- chair from 2006–2007. He has also chaired the Building Fundraising Committee for the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education.

Michèle Maheux — Maheux is the executive director and chief of operating officer for the Toronto International Film Festival. She was named as one of Women’s Executive Network Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women last year.

Nadir Mohamed — Mohamed is the former president and chief executive officer of Rogers Communications Inc. Mohamed is also on the board of TD Bank Financial Group and a member of the World Presidents’ Organization.

Carrie-Ann Bissonnette — Bissonnette has worked at Ryerson for 12 years and served as the special assistant in the office of the president. She is a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Business Incubation.

George Thomas Kapelos — Kapelos is an associate professor of architectural science and has been teaching since 2000. He was elected to the board for a two-year term in 2012. He holds degrees from Yale and Harvard universities.

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