Mary Anne Chambers is the University of Guelph Chancellor-designate
April 27, 2022
New to Canada and a few weeks into her role as a computer programmer/analyst at Scotiabank, Mary Anne Chambers’ innate work ethic and drive caught the attention of a colleague.
“She also remarked I seemed competent, conscientious and ambitious, but that I should not be disappointed if I didn’t get far in the bank because there was so much stacked against me,” she recalled. “When I naively asked her what was that, she mentioned I was a woman, a Black woman, an immigrant, Jamaican, married, a mother and a Roman Catholic.”
Chambers didn’t take exception to her workmate observations.
“I never thought she meant to be hurtful,” she noted. “I have always thought she was simply trying to manage my expectations. But I have never thought it was up to others to define my future. When I speak with young people, I encourage them to dream big. I tell them it is up to them to define their destiny.”
The septuagenarian’s contribution to Canada since leaving Jamaica 46 years ago has been monumental and filled with grace and dignity.
The former Ontario Cabinet Minister is set to become the University of Guelph 10th Chancellor. The university’s Senate unanimous choice will be installed in June.
President Charlotte Yates said Chambers embodies the institution’s purpose and promise to improve life and is a perfect fit.
“She has dedicated her life to improving the lives of others,” said Yates. “She has worked tirelessly to make higher education accessible and inclusive for everyone and to improve circumstances for children, youth and families, especially in racialized communities in Canada and around the world.”
Chambers, who was appointed to the Order of Ontario in 2015, is very familiar with the southern Ontario University.
As a Board of Governors member for six years until early 2017, she served on the Audit & Risk Management and Physical Resources & Property Committees and chaired an ad hoc working group on responsible investing created by the Board to help consider responsible investment policy and practices for the university’s endowment fund.
In June 2017, the university bestowed an honourary doctorate on Chambers who is humbled and excited to be returning.
“Though I am not a Guelph alumna, I felt welcomed and like I was in a place where I belonged,” she said. “I fell in love with the university, its people and its beautiful and safe community-like setting. I appreciated its commitment to sustainability long before that became a popular concept and its unique specialties, including the Agricultural and Veterinary Colleges and the integrated approach to program offerings at its Guelph at Humber campus.”
As Chancellor, Chambers will preside at convocation, confer degrees, provide strategic advice to the President and act as an Ambassador. As the university’s senior volunteer, she will also represent its interests to all government levels.
Mary Anne Chambers has always had an affinity for young people. Dewayne Fanfair (l) and younger brother Earvin benefitted from her encouragement and advice and are doing well as young adults. Dewayne is an insurance specialist and Earvin is a designer at Google (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
She is the university’s second Black Chancellor after the late Lincoln Alexander who held the position from 1991 to 2007.
“Linc is still remembered and celebrated with great fondness by the Guelph community,” Chambers noted. “He had that kind of impact, especially on younger people. He had a way of making people feel special. It is my hope that my appointment will inspire younger generations to imagine endless possibilities for themselves. I want it to be one that is of value to others.”
Also, she will become the fifth Black Chancellor at a Canadian university. She will join Frantz Saintellemy (Universite de Montreal), Michaelle Jean (St. Paul’s University College), Rita Deverell (Lakehead University) and Tony Fields at MacEwan University in Edmonton.
Then PACE president Mary Anne Chambers (l) and her husband Chris presented a plaque to then Jamaica High Commissioner in Canada Sheila Sealy Monteith confirming her as the organization’s honourary patron in May 2012 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
A graduate of Immaculate Conception High School that inducted her into its Hall of Fame in 2013, Chambers was set to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh when she met and married Chris Chambers.
Instead, she came to Canada and joined Scotiabank, holding a number of management-level positions before being appointed Vice-President in 1988 and Senior Vice-President a decade later.
A year after early retirement from Scotiabank, Chambers entered politics and served for nearly two years in the provincial government as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. In that role, she announced the largest multi-year investment in post-secondary education in four decades and introduced major improvements to student assistance policies and funding.
During her tenure, significant changes were also made to the Private Career Colleges Act to provide enhanced protection for students and increased support was made available to encourage apprenticeships in the skilled trades.
Chambers, who also served as Minister of Children and Youth Services before quitting politics in 2007, is a former Canadian Club of Toronto President, Rouge Valley Health System Governing Council Vice-Chair, Air Cadet League of Canada Governor, Tropicana Community Service Organization Board member, United Way of Greater Toronto Trustee, a Director of the 2008 Toronto Olympic Bid Corporation, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Mentor, Centre for Addiction & Mental Health Board Trustee, Chair of the York Centre for Education & Community Advisory Council and President of the Project for the Advancement of Childhood Education (PACE).
Jamaica Military Band (JMB) L/Cpl. Ferdenand Campbell serenades Mary Anne Chambers with Bert Kaempfert’s ‘Wonderland by Night’ at the Jamaican Canadian Association Centre in August 2012 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
The National Movement for Harmony in Canada co-founder currently serves as Governor of Canada’s International Development Research Centre, Senior Fellow at York University’s Glendon College of Public & International Affairs, Special Adviser for the City of Markham’s Anti-Black Racism Strategy and Chair of Grace Foods Canada Inc.
She has also been a huge supporter of the Toronto Police Service Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI) program.
Mary Anne Chambers congratulates Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI) graduates Zubair Abdelur (c) and Travis Williams in August 2015 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
The recipient of an honourary degree from the University of Toronto which is her alma mater, Chambers was Vice-Chair of the U of T Governing Council, participating on a task force on student financial support that led to the implementation of a policy that would ensure young people are not deterred from enrolling in the university because of inadequate financial resources.
In 2007, Chambers successfully lobbied for the University of Toronto Scarborough campus to engage in a tutoring and mentorship program with Grade Nine and Grade 10 area school students. Chambers also made a financial contribution when she left politics, described as a parting gift to the community, to help sustain the program run by the university’s Black Students Association.
Nana Frimpong (l), Ariel Brown, Mary Anne Chambers, Janessa Bagwandeen & Waris Amis at an Imani Mentorship Program event in April 2016 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
She funds nearly 60 other scholarships at Ontario community organizations, colleges and universities, including the University of Guelph where she created an entrance bursary for Black students in the College of Social & Applied Human Sciences.
Her memoir, ‘From the Heart’, will be published in August.
