Chancellor Eileen Mercier gifts $1.4 million to Laurier for endowed professorship in Faculty of Music

June 11, 2024
For Immediate Release

A $1.4-million gift to Wilfrid Laurier University from Chancellor Eileen Mercier (Hons BA ’68, LLD ’13) will establish an endowed Professorship in Voice and Choral Music Education.

The Eileen Mercier Professorship in Voice and Choral Music Education will attract and retain a faculty member who will inspire students studying Voice and Choral Music and engage in creative scholarship.

“This is the first endowed professorship in Music at Laurier,” said Cynthia Johnston Turner, dean of the Faculty of Music. “Endowed professorships provide essential resources to support world-class faculty. Eileen has been an incredible supporter of the Faculty of Music and we’re thrilled that she is establishing a professorship in our Voice and Choral Music area.”

Laurier’s Faculty of Music includes some of the top music educators and researchers in the country, who engage in cutting-edge programming and knowledge dissemination. Mercier’s transformative gift will help the faculty reach even further.

Mercier has been actively involved in the Laurier community for decades. She has held the role of chancellor since 2016, was a member of the Board of Governors from 1985 to 1991 including serving as chair from 1988 to 1990 and has served as an ex officio member of the board since 2016. She was also a member of the President’s Council of Advisors from 2010 to 2017 and has taken on many volunteer roles at the university. She is particularly proud of her membership in the WLU Alumni Choir.

For her many contributions, Mercier was recognized as Alum of the Year in 1990, WLU Outstanding Business Leader of the Year in 1991, and one of Laurier’s 100 Alumni of Achievement in 2011. She also received the Laurier Society Philanthropy Award in 2023.

“I am deeply honoured to contribute to Laurier’s exceptional Faculty of Music by establishing its first endowed professorship in Voice and Choral Music Education,” said Mercier. “I am a lifelong lover of music and participant in choral music, and this gift is an investment in music’s transformative powers.”

Mercier was a major supporter of the Making Space for Music campaign to renovate Laurier’s Faculty of Music, naming a practice studio and supporting the refurbishing of seats in the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall. She contributed generously to the Glen Carruthers Practice Studios individually and through a shared gift from the WLU Alumni Choir. Through the alumni choir, Mercier has also supported several student awards. In addition, Mercier created the Eileen Mercier Arts Scholarship, Eileen Mercier Science Scholarship, and the Hamish P. Mercier Scholarship in support of Laurier students.

“It has truly been a privilege to work alongside Eileen in service of Laurier student success,” said Laurier President and Vice-Chancellor Deborah MacLatchy. “Her governance expertise, her passionate support for our students, and her warm way of engaging with our community have deeply enriched our university.”

Mercier will complete her second and final term as chancellor on June 30.