Retired banking executive Harriet Thornhill is Tyndale University new Chancellor
April 21, 2023
Approached by Tyndale University last summer to consider the role of Chancellor, Harriet Thornhill felt the timing was not right.
Though honoured, she wanted to spend more quality time with family members, including her aging parents and two-year-old grandson.
“The only thing I did was selectively mentor leaders on my schedule,” Thornhill, the recipient of a Harry Jerome Award in 2017, said.
She is quite familiar with the multidenominational Christian university, having served as a Board member for three years until 2020.
In recent discussions with Tyndale’s President & Vice-Chancellor Dr. Marjory Kerr, Thornhill thought 2023 would be a good time.
The Board of Governors unanimously approved her appointment as the ninth Chancellor.
The installation ceremony took place on April 4.
As a proud Tyndale alumnus, Board Chair Ross Clark proudly welcomed Thornhill to the fold.
“Installing a new Chancellor for our university is not something that is done lightly,” he said. “It is not a matter of tradition or bureaucratic efficiency. It is a deliberate process designed to align our university’s mission and values with a leader best suited to meet the moment.”
Thornhill, noted Clark, met the requirements the university was seeking.
“We needed someone who can help us connect all areas of our excellence across this university and inspire us to channel our collective strength in pursuit of excellent education and a deeper knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he pointed out. “We need someone who can appreciate our diverse, yet collegial community and can encourage us to bring our university’s strengths to bear in the service of others. We need someone to challenge us, to push farther in realizing our academic, spiritual and missional potential. We knew that our next Chancellor needed to be a person who was dynamic and decisive, bold but not brash, reflective but ready and, above all, someone who sees what this community is and knows how to bring out the best of us.”
Through her extraordinary leadership, Clark said Thornhill ‘embodies what the university hope for its students who will go out and live lives with passion and purpose, engaging societal issues and making an impact in the lives of those around them’.
Tyndale alumna Denise Gillard said Thornhill’s appointment is a significant sign that Black leaders are taking their rightful places in all spheres of Canadian society.
“As a graduate of the university, I am proud to see this day come and I know the Chancellor’s extensive experience will be a blessing to the school,” said the Founder & Artistic Director of The HopeWorks Connection.
First Baptist Church Pastor Wendell Gibbs also attended the installation.
“As Minister of the oldest black institution in Toronto which emerged in 1826 before the abolition of slavery, it’s a struggled journey yet a proud observation of the first Black Chancellor at Tyndale,” he said. “The journey continues with the hope for greater enlightenment and knowledge of God’s providence for equality.”
Dr. Mansfield Edwards, the President of the Ontario Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, joined the chorus of commendations.
“I affirm the unobstructed openness of the Board of Governors on the unquestionable maturity of their decision,” he said. “Even a cursory reflection on history will show why this appointment will be a source of inspiration to present and future generations. I am confident that Harriet has the assurance of our prayers.”
As the seventh current Black Chancellor of a Canadian university, Thornhill acknowledged the appointment is very significant.
“Some community leaders and colleagues I have spoken to reminded me that what I have done over the years and now stepping into this role continues to be less about me and more about what it symbolizes and signifies for our young people who might not see themselves in this position,” the community builder and equity & diversity champion noted. “They let me know this is important for our community.”
As Chancellor, Thornhill will preside at convocation, conferring degrees, diplomas and certificates; advocate for the university’s mission and strategic plan and act as an Ambassador to advance the university’s interests.
The 2010 Winter Olympics torchbearer and Institute of Corporate Directors/Rotman School of Management Directors Education Program graduate is looking forward to continuing the work of her predecessors.
The former Stratford Festival board member and key contributor to the Black Entrepreneur Loan Fund, led by federal Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion & International Trade, spent 43 years with Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) that is the country’s largest bank.
Starting on the frontline in Montreal, Thornhill – who volunteered in Kenya in 2017 as one of RBC’s Global Citizen recipients -- led a team across 15 branches to top tier market results in revenue, client and employee key performance indicators as Regional Vice-President, Greater Toronto Area Region.
In that position, she was the executive champion for the bank’s Black Cultural Markets in the Greater Toronto Area region.
She also helped launch the RBC Black History Month Student Essay competition that challenged young people of all backgrounds to discover the role Black Canadians played in the country’s diverse history and within the broader community.
Thornhill also split four-and-a half years in Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago as the Eastern Caribbean Head of Royal Bank of Trinidad & Tobago (RBTT) Caribbean Ltd., leading the realignment of businesses and contributing to the successful rebranding and integration strategies during the transition from RBTT to RBC, and Head of Personal Banking with RBC Caribbean.
The holder of a Master of Business Administration from Athabasca University returned to Canada in 2014 to take up the role of Vice-President of the Global Contact Centre. In that position, she led a multi-business, multi-geographical distribution channel, overseeing six centres across Canada with over 3,500 employees, telephone banking, direct investing and digital client services.
Mark Beckles, RBC’s Vice-President with responsibility for Social Impact & Innovation, is confident Thornhill will thrive in her new position.
“This is yet another example of a strong Black female leader in our community being able to step into roles that have been historically held by White men,” he noted. “Her experience as a people, business and strategic leader is very deep. She understands trends, the pulse of people and the issues that are affecting people in real time. That, along with her organizational leadership, make her the perfect fit for the role.”
Harriet Thornhill was the recipient of a Harry Jerome Award in 2017 (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Born in Barbados, Thornhill – who chaired the BBPA national scholarship program -- went to England at age seven with her family before relocating to Canada in 1970.
A month after George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, Tyndale established a Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council.
Last year, the university presented the inaugural Distinguished Service Award posthumously to Reverend Mabel ‘Addie’ Aylestock who graduated from Tyndale (then Toronto Bible College) in 1945.
The descendant of immigrant farmers, many of whom were freed or escaped slaves from the United States that settled in Queen’s Bush in southwestern Ontario, she served as a Deaconess in Africville, Montreal and Toronto before becoming the BME’s first female Minister and the first ordained Black Canadian woman Minister in Canada. The former BME Conference General Secretary passed away in 1998 and age 88.
Founded in 1894 as the Toronto Bible Training College, the institution changed its name to Toronto Bible College and, in 1968, merged with the London College of Bible & Missions to become Ontario Bible College. The name, Tyndale, was assumed in 1998.
