York bids farewell to Japanese guests

A three-day meeting of Japanese and Canadian university officials ended Thursday with smiles, gifts and great food at an informal reception held at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Don Mills, Toronto.


gifts


Left: Lorna R. Marsden presents farewell gifts to visiting Japanese rectors


The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) in association with York University hosted rectors from 12 Japanese universities and presidents and senior administrators from 12 Canadian universities for a forum on higher education.


The international forum featured roundtable discussions, held at York’s state-of-the-art Technology Enhanced Learning Building, on education reform and policy development, international exchanges, new learning technologies, student recruitment and university management. The reception was sponsored and hosted by Manulife Financial – the largest Canadian-based business in Japan.


three guestsLeft: Naguib Gouda, executive director, York Alumni & Advancement Services, Sylvia Zingrone, chief of staff, Office of the President, and David Tsubouchi, York alumnus and former Ontario cabinet minister


York University President and Vice-Chancellor Lorna R. Marsden acted as master of ceremonies for the evening which featured brief comments from conference co-chairs Wade MacLauchlan, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island, and Setsucho Ikehata, president of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.


The reception, which was covered by OMNI Television and representatives of Toronto’s Japanese print media, also featured a message from York alumnus David Tsubouchi (BA’72, LLB ’75), former Ontario cabinet minister.


co-chairsLeft: from left, Wade MacLaughlan, Setsucho Ikehata, Lorna R. Marsden