Board reappoints President Graham Carr for second term
I am very pleased to announce that Concordia’s Board of Governors has unanimously voted to reappoint Graham Carr for a second mandate as president and vice-chancellor. He will officially begin his next five-year term on December 12, 2024. We are thrilled to share this news on the eve of Concordia’s 50th anniversary and feel it is auspicious that Graham will start his second mandate at the height of the celebrations.
During more than 40 years at Concordia, Graham has served with distinction in a range of academic and administrative positions. Most recently, he was provost and vice-president, Academic Affairs, before being appointed president in December 2019.
Last year, the Board created the Evaluation Committee for the President and Vice-Chancellor to fully assess the possibility of Graham’s reappointment. The committee’s process, which considered written comments from members of the Concordia community and a report from an external expert evaluator, yielded extremely positive results.
Graham is widely viewed as an open, thoughtful, engaged and strategic leader. These qualities served Concordia well as he guided our community through the COVID-19 pandemic that marked his first term as president. Despite the global health situation, Graham helped secure several historic achievements for Concordia, including its commitment to experiential learning, its largest-ever institutional research grant and the launch of PLAN/NET ZERØ.
Given Graham’s success in the position to date, we are confident he is the best choice to lead Concordia during this period of rapid and significant change in the higher education sector. While the university is facing formidable challenges — whether tied to enrollment, funding or geopolitical events — Concordia’s upcoming 50th anniversary and its reputation as one of the world’s great young universities also present unprecedented opportunities.
The Board believes Graham is the charismatic, indefatigable champion that Concordia needs to continue growing as a next-generation university. His presence on the local, national and international scenes as an eloquent advocate for Concordia has already elevated the university’s visibility and reputation. His experience as a professor, his involvement in impactful organizations, and his extensive knowledge of the research milieu only reaffirm that he is the perfect person to lead Concordia in the years ahead.
I would like to thank the many members of the Concordia community who submitted written feedback during this process. I also extend my thanks to the members of the Evaluation Committee for their contributions: Caroline Jamet, Claude Joli-Coeur, Shoshana Kalfon, Raghulkanna Lakshmanan, Martin Lefebvre, Harley Martin, Paul-John Murdoch, Nick Papatheodorakos, Raymond Paquin, Rosemary Reilly and Emad Shihab as well as Karan Singh, who acted as secretary.
I look forward to continuing to work with Graham as we further build on Concordia’s innovation and leadership in its three pillars of teaching, research and community involvement.
Please join me in congratulating Graham on his well-deserved reappointment.
Helen Antoniou
Chair, Concordia Board of Governors
Chair, Evaluation Committee for the President and Vice-Chancellor
