John F. Lemieux

Concordia mourned the passing of John F. Lemieux on July 15, 2017. To honour his legacy and his lifetime of school spirit, the Concordia University Alumni Association created the John F. Lemieux Medal in 2018. The award is presented to a member of the Concordia community whose trailblazing spirit and next-generation approach in the pursuit of excellence challenges current-day boundaries.

John F. Lemieux was a senior counsel at the national law firm Fraser Milner Casgrain in Montreal. He practised in diverse areas including aerospace, defence procurement, construction and infrastructure, as well as aboriginal claims. In his early career, John acted as counsel to several First Nations groups and was the Inuit of Quebec’s chief negotiator for the historic 1975 James Bay & Northern Quebec Agreement.

His business experience included serving as chairman of Milan-based construction firm Torno Quebec and president and CEO of Oerlikon Aerospace Canada.

John served on the Loyola Alumni Association’s Board of Directors from 2004-2014. He co-chaired the association’s successful $4-million Loyola Refectory Restoration Campaign, which culminated with the opening of the Loyola Jesuit Hall and Conference Centre in December 2011. He was the association’s representative on Concordia’s Board of Governors from 2006-2012.

In 2015 he established the John F. Lemieux Fellowship in Genocide and Human Rights Studies to enable emerging leaders to meet the goal of helping to prevent mass atrocities.

Among many volunteer commitments, John was president of the University Club of Montreal during its Centennial Year in 2007-08 and was the co-founder and president of Myeloma Canada, a national patient organization involved in the search for a cure for multiple myeloma, a rare, incurable blood cancer.