When Suromitra and I first came to Edmonton, Ralph Young and his wife Gay were the first to welcome us. Their warmth and good conversation provided a wonderful introduction to the community — thanks to them, our first year and a half in Edmonton has been one filled with generosity and kindness. That Ralph would both welcome us and work to connect us to the broader community should come as no surprise to many of you.
Ralph connects people and brings them together. He’s done this in his personal life, but has also excelled at this as the Chancellor of the University of Alberta. For the past four years, he has led our Senate. As Chancellor he has led the Senate in a number of important initiatives, including the Senate Task Force on Connecting Communities and ensuring the continued success and expansion of USchool — a special program that brings grades 4 to 9 students from socially vulnerable schools to campus for a week to experience what university is like and begin to think of attending the U of A in their future. He has also personally congratulated 23,143 graduates during the U of A’s Spring and Fall convocation ceremonies.
As a key member of the U of A, Ralph has strengthened ties with communities and senators from across the province and across the city. His advocacy for the university has been constant and influential during these four years of considerable change and transition at the institution.
His service to the U of A has a history beyond these last four years though; Ralph has freely volunteered his time, skills, and expertise with us — in a variety of roles, including as:
• representative on the Board of Governors and Senate,
• president of Alumni Council
• member of the School of Business Advisory Council and the Alberta Business Family Institute.
His volunteer leadership has been just as outstanding. He has also served on the boards of organizations as varied as the Citadel Theatre, the Edmonton Eskimos Football Club, the Minerva Foundation, the Rotary Club of Edmonton, the Edmonton Police Foundation, the Edmonton Regional Airports Authority and MacEwan University. And this is not a complete list.
It has been an honour and privilege to work with Chancellor Young, and I hope that you will join me in thanking him for his great service to the University of Alberta.
Ralph — thank you for your generosity, kindness, and wisdom — this university is better for having had you as Chancellor.
David H. Turpin
President and Vice-Chancellor