Keynote Speaker

Dr. James Downey

Giving Voice to Vision

Many, the most vituperative of them our academic colleagues, claim the contemporary university is a moral shambles, that it lacks an inspiring vision and a compelling story. What it has instead, they say, is a well-rehearsed set of utilitarian arguments: about the centrality of universities to a knowledge economy; about the importance of applied research and its commercialization; about the need to be as user-friendly as your local service station or ATM. It's not that these arguments don't serve a useful purpose, and sometimes succeed in persuading those with access to money to support us. It's that, ultimately, they fail to inspire, especially the people who should matter to us most: our students.

My own view is less pessimistic, but I would concede that in at least one respect the critics have a point: we desperately need some fresh narratives. Story-telling, not argument-spinning, is the core of civilized life – the agora where facts, feelings, truth, hope, reason and fear meet and mingle and modify each other. For those who have eyes to see and voices to tell, the modern university is an agora rich in goods that nourish mind and spirit as well as in those that service the economy. Perhaps it's time we gave voice to a broader and deeper vision, and consider the implications for what and how we teach.

Dr. James Downey has been president of three universities: Carleton University, the University of New Brunswick, and the University of Waterloo.

A graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland, he attended the University of London as a Rothermere Fellow and earned a PhD in English literature.

At Carleton University, where Dr. Downey began his career, he held a series of academic and administrative posts, including Chairman of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Vice-President Academic, and President pro tempore.

Dr. Downey served as President of the University of New Brunswick from 1980-90. During that time, he also served terms as President of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Chair of the Association of Atlantic Universities, and Chair of the Corporate-Higher Education Forum. From 1990-93 he was Special Advisor to the Premier of New Brunswick; Special Advisor to the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; and co-Chair of the New Brunswick Commission on Excellence in Education, which published two reports that guided educational reform in that province.

In 1993 Dr. Downey became President of the University of Waterloo. During the nineties, he also served terms as Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

Since stepping down as president of the University of Waterloo, he has: founded and directed Canada's first centre for the study of co-operative education; taught in the UW English Department; performed two major consultancies for the government of Ontario; advised several Canadian and international universities on issues of governance and management; led an annual seminar for new university presidents sponsored by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; consulted on the creation of a new university in the United Arab Emirates; contributed essays to several professional journals; and commissioned and co-edited a book of essays by thirty of Canada's top researchers.

Among his awards are honorary degrees from six Canadian and two American universities. In 2000, he was the recipient from the Association of Commonwealth Universities of the Symons Medal for outstanding service to higher education in the Commonwealth and, in 2003, he received the David C. Smith Award from the Council of Ontario Universities for his contributions to universities and public policy in Canada.

Dr. Downey is an Officer of the Order of Canada.