After 25 years as a leader in Canadian higher education, Laurie Rancourt has decided to retire at the end of 2021.

We have been fortunate to have Laurie’s leadership as Humber’s Senior Vice-President Academic (SVPA) since 2014. Laurie is known for her passion for skills development and innovative learning, deep knowledge of Canadian postsecondary education, and her thoughtful and compassionate approach to people and issues. I want to thank her for her unwavering commitment and dedication.

Among her many accomplishments at Humber, Laurie has overseen the:

• Development and implementation of Humber’s first institutional Academic Plan
• Establishment of Humber’s Centres of Innovation Network, including the supportive infrastructure within the Centre for Entrepreneurship and the Barrett Centre for Technology Innovation
• Creation of the Humber Learning Outcomes (HLO) framework
• Launch of 20 new programs, including Humber’s first engineering degrees and stand-alone Bachelor of Science in Nursing that will welcome their first cohorts this fall.

Modelling the importance of lifelong learning, Laurie also successfully completed her PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto while in her role.

From roles including faculty member to dean to registrar to college president, Laurie has made stellar contributions to other Canadian colleges over the course of her career. We know students and our colleagues at Northern Lights College and College Boreal continue to benefit from her legacy of building critical industry and community partnerships.

Laurie has also provided leadership at the provincial level in roles as the 2019-20 Chair for the Coordinating Committee of Vice-Presidents Academic and co-Chair of the provincial Employee Employer Relations Council since 2019. At the national level, she has worked extensively with Colleges and Institutes Canada and Polytechnics Canada, and internationally has furthered Humber’s commitment to polytechnic education as our representative on the board of the League for Innovation.

Laurie will continue in her role until September 2021. For the remainder of the calendar year, Laurie will then focus on her role as Chair of the provincial administrative bargaining team for the new academic collective agreement and support key Humber strategic priorities as special advisor to the President and new SVPA.

We plan to mark Laurie’s contributions to Humber and celebrate her achievements in the fall.

Chris Whitaker
President, CEO Humber I.T.A.L