Message from the President
Building what's next
Welcome to the annual President’s Report for Concordia University! Here, you’ll find a collection of remarkable stories of students, faculty, alumni and friends helping to transform their communities in Montreal and around the world.
Concordia President Graham Carr
When you see their achievements together in one place, it certainly feels like the past year will be remembered as a pivotal time in Concordia’s history.
For me, the story of Starsailor best captures the drive, ambition and innovation happening on our campuses. After seven years of development and contributions from 700 students, Space Concordia and its partners — especially the Cree community of Mistissini — achieved the first space launch from Canadian soil in a quarter century.
Several key initiatives also wrapped up, including our 50th-anniversary celebrations and our comprehensive fundraising campaign, which shattered all expectations by bringing in over $365 million for students, research, campus improvements and community engagement.
Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated faculty, Concordia continues to expand its impact as one of Canada’s fastest-growing research universities. Our researchers realized noteworthy firsts for our community, including a nomination to the Global Young Academy and a SSHRC Impact Award. Others earned some of Quebec and Canada’s top honours in their artistic or academic fields, such as the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas and a Dorothy Killam Fellowship.
As the university’s worldwide network of alumni surpassed 270,000, Concordians seemed ubiquitous on the international arts scene. In the past year alone, they brought home Emmys, Grammys and Oscars. Another graduate is representing Canada at the Venice Biennale.
While it’s fun to look back, Concordia has always been more focused on the future. That’s why the theme of this edition is “Building What’s Next.”
So, what is next? Faced with major disruptive forces in society, politics, technology, the economy and the environment, no one knows for certain.
What I do know is that Concordians excel in moments like these by becoming more sustainable, reimagining teaching and learning, building high-impact partnerships and forging new paths in research and creativity.
As Starsailor reminds us, when we work together, the sky is literally the limit.
Graham Carr
President and Vice-Chancellor
