ORDER OF CONVOCATION
CONVOCATION PAVILION, SOBEYS STADIUM, YORK UNIVERSITY
June 11 – 19, 2026
YORK MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of York University is the pursuit, preservation, and dissemination of knowledge. We promise excellence in research and teaching in pure, applied and professional fields. We test the boundaries and structures of knowledge. We cultivate the critical intellect.
York University is part of Toronto: we are dynamic, metropolitan and multi-cultural. York University is part of Canada: we encourage bilingual study, we value diversity. York University is open to the world: we explore global concerns.
A community of faculty, students, staff, alumni and volunteers committed to academic freedom, social justice, accessible education, and collegial self-governance, York University makes innovation its tradition.
Tentanda Via: The way must be tried.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First Nations peoples have lived on this part of Turtle Island for millennia, stewarding the land, the water and all that contributes to life in this region. Today, the culture and presence of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples enrich the lands and people of this territory.
More than two centuries ago, the Mississauga people welcomed settlers to this territory, providing sustenance and engaging in trade and commerce. Between 1781 and 1820, eight treaties were signed between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, who opened their territory to settlement. Today, York University’s Keele Campus is located on Toronto Purchase Treaty, No. 13 lands and is situated on the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee.
Treaty history is foundational, and it is our collective responsibility to honour the land, as we honour and respect those who have gone before us, those who are here and those who have yet to come. We are grateful for the opportunity to be learning, working and thriving on this land, and we commit to learn the truth and be active in the process of reconciliation.
O CANADA
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love
In all of us command.
Car ton bras
Sait porter l’épée
Il sait porter
La croix!
Ton histoire
Est une epopée
Des plus brilliants exploits.
God keep our land
Glorious and free!
O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, O maa en-ji-ba-yang
Niin-da-kiim-naang ge-tchi pii-ten-da-gwak
Kiin wind kde-i-naang mash-ka-wen-dan-daa
Gii-we-di-nong zaa-gi-too-daa
Naa-nii-bwi-daa,O Canada
We-we-na ka-na-wen-dan-daa
O Canada, ki-tchi gwa-natch
Naa-nii-bwi-daa mii-gwe-chi-wen-dan-daa
Naa-nii-bwi-daa mii-gwe-chi-wen-dan-daa.
O Canada, here where we're from
Our land that is very valuable
In our hearts be very thankful
North let us love
Let us stand, O Canada
Let us take good care of our home
O Canada, very beautiful
Let us stand and be thankful
Let us stand and be thankful.
O Canada! O maa enjibayang
True patriot love in all of us command
With glowing hearts we see thee rise
Gii-we-di-nong zaa-gi-too-daa
Ton histoire est une épopée Des plus brillants exploits. Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Naaniibwidaa miigwechiwendandaa
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
Kathleen Taylor is an experienced international business leader and corporate director in the public and private sectors. Based in Toronto, Canada, she is well recognized for her leadership and governance skills, and for her multifaceted business expertise across various industries and geographies.
Most recently serving as the Chair of the Board of the Royal Bank of Canada, she was appointed as a director from 2001 and as Chair from 2014 to 2023, helping to oversee a period of significant growth and international expansion for the bank. Prior to this role, Ms. Taylor was the President and CEO of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, where she was instrumental in building Four Seasons’ global portfolio and international brand over almost 24 years with the company.
Today, Ms. Taylor is Chair of Altas Partners, a fast-growing private equity investment firm, with approximately $10 billion of capital under management and invested with numerous companies across North America. She is also the Vice-Chair of The Adecco Group (Zurich), the world’s leading talent advisory and solutions company, and serves as a director of Air Canada (Montreal), Canada’s largest air carrier, and Mattamy Asset Management (Toronto). In addition, she is the Chair of the Advisory Board of the Cabot Collection, a developer and operator of golf resorts and residential properties.
A champion of women and children, Ms. Taylor is Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Hospital for Sick Children and the Immediate Past Chair and a member of the Board of Directors of the SickKids Foundation. She is also a Founding Visionary and Co-Chair of the Advocacy Committee of The Prosperity Project, a national not-for-profit devoted to the advancement of women in leadership and the economy.
Ms. Taylor is a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s National Council, Co-Chair of their Human Capital Policy Council and a member of the Task Force on the Digital Economy. She is also the Chancellor of York University and serves on the Dean’s Global Advisory Council of the Schulich School of Business.
Among Ms. Taylor’s many accolades for business achievement are: Member of the Order of Canada; inductee into the Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends; member of WXN’s Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame; recipient of the Schulich School of Business Award for Outstanding Executive Leadership; recipient of the inaugural Medal for Career Achievement from the Hennick Centre for Business and Law; and recipient of the Governance Professionals of Canada Peter Dey Governance Achievement Award.
Ms. Taylor holds an M.B.A. from the Schulich School of Business, a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of Toronto. She has also received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the University of Toronto, McGill University, York University and Trent University; an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Mount Saint Vincent University; and an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Huron University College.
Lisa Philipps became the Interim President and Vice-Chancellor of York University on January 1, 2026, following more than seven highly successful years as Provost and Vice-President Academic.
A proud alumna and long-standing member of the York community, she joined the faculty of Osgoode Hall Law School in 1996. Philipps is recognized for her expertise in taxation law, fiscal policy, and the role of public institutions in advancing equity and social well-being, with more than three dozen publications across these areas and research projects funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Tax Foundation, and others.
Her university leadership experience is extensive. As Provost, she led York’s Academic Division through a period of significant growth in academic quality, research capacity, and academic programming. She advanced strategic faculty hiring, oversaw major capital and program development initiatives, expanded experiential education and online learning opportunities for students, and championed initiatives that advanced the University Academic Plan 2020-2025, including the School of Continuing Studies, Markham Campus and the School of Medicine.
Before serving as Provost, Philipps held several key leadership roles at York, including Associate Vice-President Research (2011–2014), and Senior Policy Advisor to the President (October 2024- July 2025). She has also served as Chair of the (then) Senate Academic Policy and Planning Committee (2005-2006), and as Associate Dean, Research, Graduate Studies and Institutional Relations at Osgoode Hall Law School.
Beyond York University, Philipps has provided expert legal advice to a range of bodies, including the Ontario Ministry of Finance as Special Counsel in 2015. In 2015-16, she served as Interim Dean of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University, a new law school with a mandate to strengthen the Indigenous bar and prepare lawyers to practice in northern and rural communities.
Philipps has provided volunteer service over her career to a number of public and non-profit organizations including eCampus Ontario, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Provincial Judges Pension Board, and National Association of Women and the Law.
She holds an LLB from the University of Toronto and an LLM from York University and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1988. She practiced with a large law firm based in Toronto, before launching her academic career at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law.
| CHANCELLOR | Kathleen Taylor |
| CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS | Antonio Di Domenico |
| CHAIR OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE | Patricia Burke Wood |
| PRESIDENT AND VICE-CHANCELLOR | Lisa Philipps |
| PRESIDENTS EMERITI | Rhonda L. Lenton Mamdouh Shoukri Lorna R. Marsden Susan Mann Harry W. Arthurs H. Ian Macdonald |
| VICE-PRESIDENT ACADEMIC AND PROVOST | Laina Bay-Cheng |
| VICE-PRESIDENT ADVANCEMENT | Susana Gajic-Bruyea |
| VICE-PRESIDENT EQUITY, PEOPLE AND CULTURE | Parissa Safai |
| VICE-PRESIDENT FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION | Narin Kishinchandani |
| VICE-PRESIDENT RESEARCH AND INNOVATION | Amir Asif |
| UNIVERSITY GENERAL COUNSEL | Christine Silversides |
| UNIVERSITY SECRETARY | Leanne De Filippis |
| VICE-PROVOST STUDENTS | Yvette Munro |
| ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT, CONTINUING STUDIES | Christine Brooks-Cappadocia |
| DEAN, SCHOOL OF THE ARTS, MEDIA, PERFORMANCE & DESIGN | Brandon Vickerd |
| DEAN, FACULTY OF EDUCATION | Robert Savage |
| DEAN, FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL & URBAN CHANGE | Alice J. Hovorka |
| PRINCIPAL, GLENDON COLLEGE | Marco Fiola |
| DEAN AND ASSOCIATE VICE-PROVOST GRADUATE, GRADUATE STUDIES | Alice MacLachlan |
| DEAN, FACULTY OF HEALTH | David Peters |
| DEAN, LASSONDE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING | Jane Goodyer |
| INTERIM DEAN, FACULTY OF LIBERAL ARTS & PROFESSIONAL STUDIES | Kathryn McPherson |
| DEAN, OSGOODE HALL LAW SCHOOL | Trevor Farrow |
| DEAN, SCHULICH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS | Detlev Zwick |
| DEAN, FACULTY OF SCIENCE | Maydianne Andrade |
| UNIVERSITY REGISTRAR | Keshia Gray |
| DEAN OF LIBRARIES | Joseph Hafner |
THE COAT OF ARMS OF YORK UNIVERSITY
The upper half of the shield contains two lions of the City of York; the lower half contains, on a red background, the white rose of the Royal House of York. The oak sprig in the crest represents the Tree of Learning and recognizes York University’s initial affiliation with the University of Toronto. The York University colours are crimson and white.
THE MACE
The mace, which the University Beadle carries, was a gift to York University from the City of Toronto in 1964. Each part of the mace has symbolic significance for the University. Rendered in brass, the end section is set with stones of cullet, bloodstone, agate and amazonite which represent all ethnic sources of Canada. The shoulder has 10 projections representing Canada’s provinces. The four arms at the head of the mace represent the paths which lead to the ideals that humans strive to achieve. The arms support an orb whose shape reflects the universe and its truths. The orb is executed in the colours of earth and water: brown, ochre, blue and green.
ORDERS OF CONVOCATION