Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a celebration of 45 years of teaching public administration at Ryerson University.
It was a great event that started with a panel speaking about public administration in general and the Ryerson program in particular. Among the panelists were NDP leader and former prof at Ryerson, Jack Layton; the 2007 Pierre de Celles award winner Paul Thomas from the University of Manitoba; Marg Rapapolt, the Deputy Minister of Aboriginal Affairs from the Government of Ontario; and 2 graduates from the Ryerson program. The two graduates spoke about Ryerson's unique approach to connecting to the community in offering their programs.
Ryerson Prez Sheldon Levy then introduced one of the original profs in the program and later Chancellor of the University, also former mayor of Toronto, Federal MP and Cabinet Minister (and many more titles) David Crombie. Mr. Crombie gave an off the cuff speech about how he started at Ryerson - teaching sociology, something he knew nothing about. His students quickly asked him to teach them how city hall worked. The rest is history as they say! Mr. Crombie's speech was entertaining and I am always amazed at how some people can, without any notes, give a wonderful speech.
It was a great afternoon - Congratulations to Ryerson University!!
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