In what the University of Sudbury describes as a “decisive decision to announce its presence as a leading French-speaking university in the province of Ontario”, the former federated university operating on the Laurentian campus has hired a new president.

This president is Serge Milville, who said he hopes to open the doors of the new francophone university of the University of Sudbury in September.

“After careful consideration of applicants from across Canada, the university decided that Dr. Miville, an accomplished historian, was the ideal candidate to lead the university through this decisive next step to continue its evolution in support of cutting-edge higher education in, for and with the resilient Francophone community of the North, ”said a press release from the University of Sudbury.

This spring, following the insolvency of Laurentian University, the University of Sudbury announced its intention to become a French-speaking university.

Shortly after, Laurentian announced that it was terminating the agreement with the federated universities operating on campus – the University of Sudbury as well as Huntington University and Thorneloe University.

Laurentian said she needed the money she was transferring to federated universities in exchange for offering courses leading to LU degrees.

The current President of the University of Sudbury is Father John Meehan, SJ, Ph.D. The University of Sudbury Board of Trustees thanked him for his contribution since joining the school in September 2019.

He has a new role as director of the Bill Graham Center for Contemporary International History at Trinity College, University of Toronto.

Miville, originally from Smooth Rock Falls in northern Ontario, holds a Bachelor and Master of Arts degree (Ottawa), as well as a doctorate. (York).

In 2020, he will be hosted at the Société Charlevoix des études franco-ontariennes. Miville was until recently the holder of the research chair in Franco-Ontarian history at Laurentian University.

Miville was director of the Institut franco-ontarien (IFO), which recently moved its offices to the University of Sudbury.

In addition to her academic roles, Miville has been instrumental in administrative and governance roles through various academic committees and councils.

His writings on French-speaking Canada have been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Société Radio-Canada, Le Droit and Le Devoir, among others.

“Dr. Miville is an excellent successor for the achievement of our mandate. His dynamism, his positive leadership, his skills and his vision are perfectly in line with the ambitions of our university”, declares the chairman of the board of directors, Pierre Riopel.

The University of Sudbury said Mivelle’s appointment represents a generational shift in leadership that reflects the university’s new direction and plans to provide a new and unique experience for its students.

Miville is committed to establishing a vision of inclusive post-secondary education that maximizes the opportunities found within the larger network of French-language postsecondary institutions.

institutions to provide the best possible choice and diversity of educational opportunities in person and through hybrid options.

He is also deeply committed to ensuring the continuation of the university’s dialogue with indigenous communities.

“It is a huge honor to take on such an important responsibility,” said Miville. “My commitment to students is clear: the entire University of Sudbury team will take advantage of our resources to ensure that you have the opportunity to study in the North, in French, and that your degrees will be recognized and transferable.

“I am deeply optimistic about the future of our university, about the future of Francophone higher education, and I have great hope that our partners in the provincial and federal governments will be useful as we serve the Francophone community,” but above all, as we are trying to open our doors to students in September 2021.