An Opportunity to Serve My Alma Mater, McGill University

I’ve just been named to the Advisory Board of the McGill University Centre for Continuing Education (CCE). For the next two years, I’ll be doing what I can to help grow the centre.

I’m thrilled for a number of reasons.

First of all, I love McGill and am happy to be provided with a chance to give back to the university that gave me so much. I attended the University between 1983 and 1987. It’s at McGill that I did the following:

• I touched my first computer keyboard and typed my first line of code.

• I discovered the joys of singing in a choir and learning that a Bach Chorale can make anyone cry.

• I entered buildings and felt completely overwhelmed by the greatness of the people who had taught and studied there.  (I recall getting dizzy and having to sit down after reading a plaque recognizing that Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, was appointed as McGill’s chair of physics in 1898. While at McGill, he did the work that led to his 1908 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.)

McGill is a fabulous university. It was rated 20th in the world in the 2008 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Prepare to hear me boast of this often.

I’m a big believer in lifelong learning. University continuing education departments play an important role in society by encouraging people to pursue an academic education in any stage of their lives.

I’ll get a glimpse into how the academic world has changed in the last 25 years:

• What learning technologies has the university embraced?
• What role is social media playing in academia?
• How do students view their education?

I’ll keep you posted on what I learn.

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