Board of Governors Membership

The Wilfrid Laurier University Act provides for broad representation on the Board of Governors to ensure that all members of the university community have a voice and input. In keeping with the principles of shared governance, there is strong representation from Senate on the Board of Governors, including three faculty representatives elected from Senate, as well as the chancellor and the president and vice-chancellor, who are ex officio members of the Board of Governors.

The Board of Governors has 34 members, of which five are faculty (three elected from Senate), three are students (two undergraduate and one graduate), two are administrative staff, and three are alumni. In addition, the Board of Governors includes six members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council of the Province, eight members from the community-at-large to represent a broad spectrum of the public, two members appointed by the Martin Luther University College (Waterloo Lutheran Seminary) and three members appointed through the cities of Waterloo and Kitchener and Regional Municipality of Waterloo.

In recommending individuals for appointment to the Board of Governors, the nominations committee considers the competencies needed for the Board of Governors, succession planning, and providing for representation from the communities in which Laurier has campuses and offices (Kitchener-Waterloo, Brantford and Toronto).

Ex Officio Members

• Chancellor: Nadir Patel
• President and Vice-Chancellor: Deborah MacLatchy

Elected/Appointed Members

• Appointed by the City of Waterloo: Royce Bodaly
• Appointed by the City of Kitchener: Berry Vrbanovic
• Appointed by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo: Chantal Huinink
• Appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council:
  
  • Shelley Boettger 
  • Simon Chan (Chair)
  • Avvey Peters (Vice-Chair)
  • Michael Ras
  • Vacant
  • Vacant 
• Community-at-Large:
  
  • Catharine Dutt
  • Paul Elliott 
  • Chinyere Eni
  • Adam Grogan
  • Abas Kanu (Vice-Chair)
  • Janis Monture
  • Jim Phillips
  • Doug Treleaven
• Alumni Appointed by the Alumni Association:
  
  • Patricia Polischuk (Secretary)
  • Marc Richardson (Treasurer)
  • Cynthia Sundberg
• Faculty-at-Large Elected by University Faculty Council:
  
  • Ken Maly
  • M. Fabricio Perez
• Faculty Elected by Senate:
  • Ling Chu
  • Peter Urquhart
  • Jin Wang
• Undergraduate Students Elected by Undergraduate Students:
  • Miguel Gonzalez
  • Ife Odeleye
• Graduate Student Elected by Graduate Students:
  • Reina Stewart
• Staff Elected by University Staff:
  
  • Ryan Eldred
  • Lindsay Lawrence
• Appointed by the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Board (Martin Luther University College):
  • Kristine Lund
  • Ken Seiling

Updated as of July 2024.

Chairs of the Board, 1912 to Present

Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada (est. 1911)

• The Rev. J. A. Miller: 1912-1915
• The Rev. Emil Hoffmann, DD: 1915-1918
• The Rev. Jacob Maurer, DD: 1918-1928

Waterloo College (est. 1924)

• The Rev. Jacob Maurer, DD: 1918-1928
• The Rev. Nils Willison, DLitt: 1928-1933
• The Rev. John Schmieder, DD: 1933-1938
• The Rev. Clifford S. Roberts, DD: 1938-1944
• The Rev. John Schmieder, DD: 1944-1946
• The Rev. Arthur F. Buehlow, DD: 1946-1950
• The Rev. Albert G. Jacobi, DD: 1950-1952
• The Rev. Carl R. Cronmiller, DD: 1952-1955
• The Rev. Albert W. Lotz, DD: 1955-1958

Waterloo College Associate Faculties (est. 1956)

• The Rev. Albert W. Lotz, DDiv: 1955-1958
• The Rev. Delton J. Glebe, MA, DDiv: 1958-1959
• The Rev. Alvin J. Baetz, BA, DDiv: 1959-1960

Waterloo Lutheran University (est. 1960)

• The Rev. John M. Zimmerman, DDiv: 1960-1962
• Harry Greb, LLD: 1962-1971
• Ralph Kraft: 1971-1972
• Rev. Robert J. Binhammer, DDiv: 1972-1973

Wilfrid Laurier University (est. 1973)

• Rev. Robert Binhammer, DDiv: 1973-1975
• William H. Timmis: 1975-1979
• Robert G. S. McIntosh, QC: 1979-1982
• Dr. John H. Moffat: 1982-1985
• Frank F. Wiley: 1985-1987
• John E. Lauer: 1987-1988
• Eileen Mercier: 1988-1990
• Robert M. Astley, LLD: 1990-1992
• David W. Pady: 1992-1994
• Betty Sims, LLD: 1994-1997
• Jerry Young: 1997-2002
• Bryce Walker: 2002-2005
• Beverly Harris: 2005-2009
• John Ormston: 2009-2011
• Farouk Ahamed: 2011-2013
• Jamie Martin: 2013-2015
• John Bowey: 2015-2017
• Jillian Swartz: 2017-2019
• Lynda Hawton Kitamura: 2019-2022
• Paul Elliott: 2022-2024
• Simon Chan: 2024-present