becoming president in 2003. Along the way, he has received numerous awards for academic and humanitarian contributions, including the International Quality of Life Award from Auburn University in Alabama, the “Award of Highest Honour” from Soka University in Japan, and the YMCAYWCA of Guelph Peace Medal. He also received an honorary degree from the University of Bristol.
shouldn’t be de-motivating, it should actually motivate you to make a difference.” Summerlee arrived in Guelph in 1988 as a biomedical sciences professor and moved through the administrative ranks here – associate dean of the Ontario Veterinary College, dean of graduate studies, associate vice-president (academic), provost and vice-president (academic) – before
Inventiveness: U of G's Reputation Beyond his presidency, what lies ahead for Guelph? Summerlee points to the $200-million BetterPlanet Project campaign, which has attracted donations from more than 64,000 individuals. That fundraising effort wrapping up this year is intended to point the University toward the future by focusing efforts on research strengths in food, health, environment, communities, and teaching and learning. Guelph has 1,800 graduate students and 36 Canada Research Chairs, as well as other industry-sponsored chairs and research positions, working on everything from DNA barcoding, to omega-3 eggs and milk, to stroke recovery robots, to seniors’ nutrition. During his tenure, Guelph research revenue has grown to $125.4 million a year from various sources, including the U of G partnership agreement with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Ministry of Rural Affairs, the federal TriCouncils, other government departments and ministries, business and industry, and non-profits and charitable organizations. Other research-intensive universities have more dollars per faculty member coming in, says Summerlee, although Guelph ranks first in number of research dollars among comprehensive universities.“But what’s important is the output, the inventiveness. Per capita, we’re the most inventive university in Canada.” Guelph researchers also work in 70 nations. Come August, Summerlee will find himself walking through another country.Yes, he’ll miss the fourth floor of the University Centre for all the daily yo-yo of issues and emotions. “One of the absolutely spectacular things about this job is that there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t go from ‘I couldn’t be in a more rewarding, more fulfilling job if I tried,’ to ‘When am I going to
get out of here, this is driving me nuts.’” This winter, amid deliberations over how to address the University’s projected $32million funding gap over the next three years, Summerlee worked with other administrators to consolidate programs at U of G’s Kemptville and Alfred campuses, with attendant job losses. “It’s the antithesis of what drives me, which is to make people’s lives better. By virtue of being in this position, I’m forced to make some people’s lives worse.” Balance that against the “absolute dogged strength of those people still working in that same team who ask, ‘How do we treat people with respect, with dignity, and support them in that change?’” The job has also afforded Summerlee the chance to meet inspiring individuals, notably Nelson Mandela and the Aga Khan. Most compelling, he says, was the young man from a Kenyan refugee camp who had been among a few chosen to come to Canada for school.The student asked Summerlee about leniency for a friend who had barely missed the cut-off criteria. Told no, he said, “If I withdrew, would you take him instead?” Seated in his UC office, Summerlee pauses. He’s told this story a few times, but today tears still flow as he says, “That was a moment of thinking, ‘I am interacting with someone who is beyond remarkable – that they can see and touch their future, one that is so different from the bleak future they have in the camp, yet give it up for another human being.’” Another pause – and he adds, “Needless to say, the friend did come to Guelph, we found a way to do that.” Those are among 11 years’ worth of experiences that Summerlee will carry on his journey through the Kalahari. On that trek, he’ll be seeking new purpose. After returning to Guelph in the fall, he will focus on research initiatives in cancer and anemia. He plans to continue a couple of humanitarian projects, including serving as the volunteer chair of the Hunger Solutions Institute in Alabama. But he says he has yet to figure out the rest of his career. In a sense, he’s facing that unknown future again. “I realize that part of my own comfort and stability is feeling that I have a purpose. I don’t know what that purpose is going to be after July, so that’s why I’m going to go and walk.” ■
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