You have been invited to come to tend York for the next five years. You will find it a fascinating, intriguing and sometimes exasperating place. York's origins are still within living memory and that creates a complex mix of experimentation and conservatism. The "way must be tried" is York's motto and belief; it in fact underpins the intellectual dynamism, the programmatic flexibility and innovation, the openness and acceptance of diversity. There is definite substance to York's claim and reputation as Canada's most modern university. At the same time York clings to its way of doing things, structurally, constitutionally and, especially, in terms of process. And York loves process! Certainly there is no doubt about York's growth and I know you will have a wonderful time being part of its next stages. Physically York is quite awesome: the lovely, small Glendon enclave and the exuberant modernity of the Keele campus where award-winning buildings and landscaping meet an actual and metaphorical limitless horizon. You should see at least three new additions to York's physical presence during your tenure, each of which represents innovative partnerships and will contribute to York's academic advancement and prestige: Seneca College @ York, the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College and the new Science building.

    In such a setting, the real task, as always, is to make sure York's intellectual presence goes on being just as imposing as its physical presence. In the past 35 years, York has become Canada's greatest success story in higher education. We have the high quality of our incoming students to show for it and an array of awards and distinctions to prove it. York offers academic excellence coupled with a known commitment to accessibility and social justice. The combination is our pride and our hallmark. In the past five years I have often spoken of the stream of academic honours and distinctions won by York faculty, graduates and students. York scholars are known world-wide in fields ranging from classics to space science; York's superb teachers produce prize-winning graduates; York's professional programs are second to none. Last year York graduate students won twice as many Social Science and Humanities Research Council doctoral fellowships as in previous years, placing us among the top four universities in Canada. York students have captured Rhodes, Fulbright, Commonwealth and Queen Elizabeth II scholarships. York faculty include 55 Fellows elected to the Royal Society and 29 Killam Scholars. They won the major North American awards for teaching excellence: the 3M Teaching Fellowship, the CASE award for Canadian Professor of the Year, as well as Ontario Federation of University Faculty Association awards for teaching excellence. Indeed, York faculty have won more scholarly awards than faculty at any other comprehensive university in Canada. The breadth and depth of dynamism of York's intellectual endeavours, growing by leaps and bounds, are a joy to behold. Yours will be the task to tell this story to the world.

    As you well know, Lorna, universities are primarily people places, people-asking- questions places. And this is York's great secret, the source of its strength. The people who work at our University -- the staff, the managers, the faculty -- care passionately about York. Their attention to our students over the years has produced more than 110,000 alumni world-wide, special York people, all readers of Profiles (acknowledged twice as the best university magazine in Canada).

    All of these people -- and our students too -- will need special care over the next few years. The recent labour dispute has been a difficult and divisive experience for York, and its impact has been felt by every student, faculty and staff member. It leaves in its wake an imperative to heal differences, to mobilize the deeply shared values of the York community in order to sustain York's future as a pre-eminent university for innovative teaching and research. I know that you will exercise the leadership and vision needed.

    So you are coming to a special place, one that you, like we, will soon recognize as your intellectual home. I am sure that you, too, will enjoy its spirit and dynamism as much as I have. We at your new university need you to cherish York, foster its excellence, work with its idiosyncrasies and trumpet its successes. Best of luck. I know you'll enjoy it!

Susan Mann
President

"Under President Mann's leadership, York has established itself as a dynamic, innovative and contempory university with a strong and demonstrated commitment to academic excellence."

William A. Dimma
Chair, Board of Governors