York University’s president issues his fall welcome message

York President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri
York President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri
Mamdouh Shoukri
Mamdouh Shoukri

As we welcome all of our new and returning students, staff and faculty to the University, I wanted to take a moment to tell you about some of the many exciting things that are happening on campus.

This year, a number of significant campus projects are being completed. Our Bergeron Centre for Engineering Excellence is the vibrant new home for our Lassonde School of Engineering. This iconic new building, which features nearly 16,000 square metres of open-concept classrooms, labs and workshops, will offer a welcoming new space for the next generation of innovators on campus.

This summer, our new state-of-the-art Athletics Stadium hosted visitors from around the globe as we celebrated the Toronto 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. This gave us the chance to cheer on our York athletes as they won a combined total of five medals in the Games – from sprinting and gymnastics to baseball and boxing.

Speaking of pride, at our Spring Convocation in June, we congratulated more than 6,000 graduates as they crossed the stage, and were proud to pay tribute to 13 exceptional honourary degree recipients, as well as a number of faculty and student award winners.

Another reason to celebrate this year was the announcement that a new York University campus in Markham Centre was approved by the provincial government. As our successful “Yes to York” campaign highlighted, York Region is home to more than 50,000 York alumni, as well as faculty and staff, and the new campus will address the expected strong population growth in the Region. Our expansion into Markham, at the heart of Ontario’s growing knowledge economy, will provide students in the area with access to innovative experiential programs that will prepare them for careers and to contribute to the social and economic development of the Region and the province.

In addition to a number of institutional awards and honours, our students, staff and faculty continue to excel, leading the way with passion and ingenuity, and finding solutions to local and global challenges.

Our Faculty of Fine Arts was recently launched as the School of the Arts, Media, Performance and Design, and is building not only on the school’s history and reputation for excellence in the fundamentals, but also on its leadership in collaborative and innovative research at the intersection of arts and technology with engineering, science and the humanities.

York students know how to combine academic excellence with extra-curricular activity and fun. So, in addition to the hundreds of student clubs available to join on campus, we look forward to celebrating Homecoming with our Lions football team, Red and White Spirit Day, Town Hall, and our President for a Day contest – all exciting ways to experience York at its finest this fall.

I look forward to seeing you on campus this year as we continue to build York’s bright future, guided by our history and inspired by one another.

Mamdouh Shoukri
President and Vice-Chancellor