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Role of the Chancellor
The Wilfrid Laurier University Act, 1973, section 26 (l) states that “there shall be a Chancellor of the University who shall be appointed by the Board of Governors with the concurrence of the Senate and who shall hold office for four years and is eligible for reappointment for one additional term.”
The chancellor acts as the voluntary, ceremonial head of the university; presides over convocation and officially bestows all degrees and diplomas; and engages with internal and external stakeholders of Laurier to further the university’s mission. The chancellor is also ex officio a member of the Board of Governors and Senate, and serves on the Senate honorary degree committee and the Board development committee.
In order to fulfill their responsibilities, a chancellor must embody the following characteristics and qualities:
- Be a person of stature, respect and impeccable character;
- Support the mission, vision and values of Laurier;
- Be a champion for higher education.
Our Current Chancellor: Nadir Patel
Accomplished corporate director, former diplomat, and alumnus (BA’ 93) Nadir Patel is chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University, and is the tenth person to occupy the role since the university became a public institution in 1973.
Patel is the former Canadian High Commissioner to India, a post he served in from 2014 to 2021, overseeing Canada’s largest embassy abroad while concurrently serving as ambassador to Nepal and Bhutan. He has also served as senior assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer for Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and as Canada’s consul general in Shanghai, China.
Patel began his career with the federal government while a student at Laurier, as a tax auditor in the Kitchener-Waterloo offices of Revenue Canada. He moved into positions of increasing importance, including in the Privy Council Office, where he served as chief of staff to the prime minister’s national security advisor, and associate secretary to the cabinet. Other positions included senior policy adviser to the Privy Council clerk and cabinet secretary, as well as serving as Canada’s “chief air negotiator,” a position in which Patel negotiated 43 international aerospace agreements.
He currently serves as senior strategic advisor at global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP and is a managing director at Fairfax Financial Holdings. He has extensive governance expertise, including positions on numerous private, Crown corporations, and not-for-profit boards. He is a member of the board of directors for Canadian Tire Corporation, where he chairs the audit committee, is chair of the board for Jumpstart Charities, and is a board member for the Ottawa Hospital Foundation.
Patel graduated from Laurier with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and holds a joint MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business, London School of Economics and Political Science, and HEC (Paris) School of Management. In 2011, he was named one of Laurier’s 100 Alumni of Achievement.
Chancellors at Laurier: 1961 to Present
Waterloo Lutheran University
- The Hon. W.D. (William Daum) Euler: 1961
- The Hon. W. Ross Macdonald: 1964 to 1972
- The Hon. Paul Joseph Martin: 1972 to 1973
Wilfrid Laurier University
- The Hon. Paul Joseph Martin: 1973 to 1977
- The Hon. John Black Aird: 1977 to 1985
- Maureen Forrester: 1986 to 1990
- The Hon. Willard Z. Estey: 1990 to 1995
- John E. Cleghorn: 1996 to 2003
- The Hon. Robert (Bob) Rae: 2003 to 2008
- John Pollock: 2008 to 2011
- Michael Lee-Chin: 2011 to 2016
- Eileen Mercier: 2016 to 2024
- Nadir Patel: 2024 to present