Meeting Minutes-Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes:Developing Leaders for a Sustainable and Equitable World
May 30th. 2019
President Martin Alderwick opened the meeting at 9:55 am with 44 members in attendance. He welcomed today’s guest speaker, Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes as well as three visiting guests: Chris Gimmer, Darrell Henderson and Bill Stevens.
President Alderwick announced the Nominations Committee Report for the slate being put forth for next term’s Board of Directors with the names of those members who have indicated their willingness to stand for re-election to the Board of Directors as well as three new members willing to take on the role of director.
Reminder: The next meeting will be the Annual General Meeting which will start at 9:45 am.
Announcements
Activities – Ray Biffis
- The night at the Grand River Raceway in Elora on Sept. 23rd has opened up more spaces and we can now accommodate up to 40 people with 36 already signed-up;
- We are still taking names of people who are interested in attending a Drayton Theatre event probably in August.
Coffee – Martin Alderwick
- Next Thurs., June 6th, coffee will be at the Boathouse and the alternative meeting location is the Airpark Café.
Julian Sale introduced today’s guest speaker, Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes.
Bio:
Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes is founding dean of the recently named Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. With a career defined by advocacy, Julia provided the leadership over a ten-year journey, for transforming the university’s College of Management and Economics into a globally recognized business school, renowned for its commitment to “developing leaders for a sustainable and equitable world”.
In 2019 Julia facilitated a thought leader session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on the need to fundamentally revisit business school rankings. She has also addressed the United Nations General Assembly in NYC on the need for business schools to contribute to advancing the UN’s sustainable development goals, including prioritizing quality education. Previously, Julia served as president of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, a predominantly Canadian organization committed to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in post-secondary institutions. She has been on faculty at the University of Guelph for over 30 years.
Julia’s scholarly work includes the edited books, Handbook of Human Resource Management in the Tourism and Hospitality Industries (2018), Edward Elgar Publishing and Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2010), McGill-Queen’s University Press. She has also written on ethics and integrity in the academy, with papers published in the Canadian Journal of Higher Education. Julia has received a number of awards and recognitions, including the Sheffield Award from the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, for excellence in research; the University of Guelph’s John Bell Award, for distinguished educational leadership; and the “Woman of Distinction Award” from the Guelph YMCA, for outstanding contributions to education and training.
Topic:
n this presentation, and as she prepares to step down as dean, Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes will be reflecting on the steps she took over a ten-year leadership journey, to support the transformation of the University of Guelph’s College of Management and Economics into the globally recognized and recently named Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. Lessons learned from a systems point of view will be shared. The importance of transforming our educational institutions will be emphasized.
Presentation:
Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes opened by talking about the recent ethical issue of Canada dumping food and plastic waste on other countries. This is particularly disturbing when the University of Guelph is considered to be Canada’s food university. We are at the roots of the global food supply chain. Another wicked problem the world is facing is human trafficking and this is interfacing with the hospitality industry. Along with that is how our country is being impacted by constant surveillance. The opioid crisis is causing class action lawsuits against the pharmaceutical industry. There are so many things that can bring us down. This is leading to existential angst.
The University of Guelph has a history of advocacy and some of this was led by a woman named Adelaide Hoodless back in 1855. Adelaide Hoodless, née Hunter, educational reformer, founder of the Women's Institutes (b at St George, Canada W 26 Feb 1857; d at Toronto 26 Feb 1910). Hoodless was jolted out of a comfortable middle-class life when an infant son died in 1889 after drinking impure milk. Thereafter she devoted herself to women's causes, specifically to the better education of women for motherhood and household management. She campaigned for domestic science (home economics) in the schools and advised the provincial department of education on this subject. In 1897 she founded the first Women's Institute (Stoney Creek, Ont); within a few years this movement spread across Canada and around the world. Working with Lady Aberdeen, she helped found the National Council of Women, Victorian Order of Nurses and the national YWCA. Basically conservative, Hoodless believed women's natural destiny lay in the home, and she never supported the suffragette cause. She was the author of Public School Domestic Science (1898). (From the Canadian Encyclopedia).
Hoodless worked with Sir William MacDonald and OAC to found MacDonald Institute at what became part of the University of Guelph. Women needed to know the sciences of running a household. Sir William MacDonald was a tobacco importer and merchant who created the MacDonald Tobacco Company. After becoming hugely successful and wealthy, MacDonald became a philanthropist who helped to fund McGill University and then contributed a large sum of money to help establish MacDonald Institute for women’s studies at the OAC later to be known as University of Guelph.
In the 50’s and 60’s when many families began to all have cars and with the advent of McDonald’s Restaurant chain and the hospitality industry, UoG had all the kitchens at the MacDonald’s Institute to help with training people in the food industry. Fifty years ago the university began to expand into the area of studies of Family and Consumer Studies, Ontario Agricultural College, and College of Social Sciences.
In 2006 the College of Management and Economics began. Julia Christensen Hughes became the dean of the College from 2009 to 2013. The College’s vision was Leaders for a Sustainable World
and its pillars were Transformational learning, Research with impact, and Community engagement. It launched the following programs: UN PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) Collaboration; CBASE (Centre for Business and Student Enterprise); Accounting major; Career Centre; PhD Management; and Sustainable Commerce MBA. In 2014 this became the College of Business and Economics.
Under Dr. Christensen Hughes’s guidance the College has presented students with the dilemma of trying to solve the many of the problems fuelled by modern society in the world of business and economics. She has advocated for integrity and tried to get students to value collaboration.
The MBA program is now ranked as one of the top ten MBA programs in the world as ranked by Corporate Knights. Corporate Knights' Magazine for Clean Capitalism is one of the world’s largest circulation (147K+) magazines focused on the intersection of business and society.
There have been a number of very successful graduates in the business and professional world.
In 2019 the college became The Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph and is committed to developing leaders with a social conscience, an environmental sensibility and a commitment to their communities. It offers a wide range of specialized programs in business and economics across undergraduate, graduate and professional education.
Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes closed her presentation by saying the spirit of Adelaide Hoodless lives on in which women should always take place in the business of the day.
Julian Sale thanked Julia Christensen Hughes for her presentation and provided a token of the Club’s appreciation which Ms. Christensen Hughes asked be given to Lakeside Church Boathouse.
Next meeting: Thurs. June 13th, 2019. This meeting is the Annual General Meeting to begin at 9:45 am preceded by coffee at 9:15 am. The guest speaker at the General Membership meeting will be: Michel Fich - Distant Planets and the Search for Life
Adjournment @11:06
Recording Secretary: Kerry Gennings
President Alderwick announced the Nominations Committee Report for the slate being put forth for next term’s Board of Directors with the names of those members who have indicated their willingness to stand for re-election to the Board of Directors as well as three new members willing to take on the role of director.
Reminder: The next meeting will be the Annual General Meeting which will start at 9:45 am.
Announcements
Activities – Ray Biffis
- The night at the Grand River Raceway in Elora on Sept. 23rd has opened up more spaces and we can now accommodate up to 40 people with 36 already signed-up;
- We are still taking names of people who are interested in attending a Drayton Theatre event probably in August.
Coffee – Martin Alderwick
- Next Thurs., June 6th, coffee will be at the Boathouse and the alternative meeting location is the Airpark Café.
Julian Sale introduced today’s guest speaker, Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes.
Bio:
Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes is founding dean of the recently named Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. With a career defined by advocacy, Julia provided the leadership over a ten-year journey, for transforming the university’s College of Management and Economics into a globally recognized business school, renowned for its commitment to “developing leaders for a sustainable and equitable world”.
In 2019 Julia facilitated a thought leader session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on the need to fundamentally revisit business school rankings. She has also addressed the United Nations General Assembly in NYC on the need for business schools to contribute to advancing the UN’s sustainable development goals, including prioritizing quality education. Previously, Julia served as president of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, a predominantly Canadian organization committed to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in post-secondary institutions. She has been on faculty at the University of Guelph for over 30 years.
Julia’s scholarly work includes the edited books, Handbook of Human Resource Management in the Tourism and Hospitality Industries (2018), Edward Elgar Publishing and Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (2010), McGill-Queen’s University Press. She has also written on ethics and integrity in the academy, with papers published in the Canadian Journal of Higher Education. Julia has received a number of awards and recognitions, including the Sheffield Award from the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, for excellence in research; the University of Guelph’s John Bell Award, for distinguished educational leadership; and the “Woman of Distinction Award” from the Guelph YMCA, for outstanding contributions to education and training.
Topic:
n this presentation, and as she prepares to step down as dean, Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes will be reflecting on the steps she took over a ten-year leadership journey, to support the transformation of the University of Guelph’s College of Management and Economics into the globally recognized and recently named Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. Lessons learned from a systems point of view will be shared. The importance of transforming our educational institutions will be emphasized.
Presentation:
Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes opened by talking about the recent ethical issue of Canada dumping food and plastic waste on other countries. This is particularly disturbing when the University of Guelph is considered to be Canada’s food university. We are at the roots of the global food supply chain. Another wicked problem the world is facing is human trafficking and this is interfacing with the hospitality industry. Along with that is how our country is being impacted by constant surveillance. The opioid crisis is causing class action lawsuits against the pharmaceutical industry. There are so many things that can bring us down. This is leading to existential angst.
The University of Guelph has a history of advocacy and some of this was led by a woman named Adelaide Hoodless back in 1855. Adelaide Hoodless, née Hunter, educational reformer, founder of the Women's Institutes (b at St George, Canada W 26 Feb 1857; d at Toronto 26 Feb 1910). Hoodless was jolted out of a comfortable middle-class life when an infant son died in 1889 after drinking impure milk. Thereafter she devoted herself to women's causes, specifically to the better education of women for motherhood and household management. She campaigned for domestic science (home economics) in the schools and advised the provincial department of education on this subject. In 1897 she founded the first Women's Institute (Stoney Creek, Ont); within a few years this movement spread across Canada and around the world. Working with Lady Aberdeen, she helped found the National Council of Women, Victorian Order of Nurses and the national YWCA. Basically conservative, Hoodless believed women's natural destiny lay in the home, and she never supported the suffragette cause. She was the author of Public School Domestic Science (1898). (From the Canadian Encyclopedia).
Hoodless worked with Sir William MacDonald and OAC to found MacDonald Institute at what became part of the University of Guelph. Women needed to know the sciences of running a household. Sir William MacDonald was a tobacco importer and merchant who created the MacDonald Tobacco Company. After becoming hugely successful and wealthy, MacDonald became a philanthropist who helped to fund McGill University and then contributed a large sum of money to help establish MacDonald Institute for women’s studies at the OAC later to be known as University of Guelph.
In the 50’s and 60’s when many families began to all have cars and with the advent of McDonald’s Restaurant chain and the hospitality industry, UoG had all the kitchens at the MacDonald’s Institute to help with training people in the food industry. Fifty years ago the university began to expand into the area of studies of Family and Consumer Studies, Ontario Agricultural College, and College of Social Sciences.
In 2006 the College of Management and Economics began. Julia Christensen Hughes became the dean of the College from 2009 to 2013. The College’s vision was Leaders for a Sustainable World
and its pillars were Transformational learning, Research with impact, and Community engagement. It launched the following programs: UN PRME (Principles for Responsible Management Education) Collaboration; CBASE (Centre for Business and Student Enterprise); Accounting major; Career Centre; PhD Management; and Sustainable Commerce MBA. In 2014 this became the College of Business and Economics.
Under Dr. Christensen Hughes’s guidance the College has presented students with the dilemma of trying to solve the many of the problems fuelled by modern society in the world of business and economics. She has advocated for integrity and tried to get students to value collaboration.
The MBA program is now ranked as one of the top ten MBA programs in the world as ranked by Corporate Knights. Corporate Knights' Magazine for Clean Capitalism is one of the world’s largest circulation (147K+) magazines focused on the intersection of business and society.
There have been a number of very successful graduates in the business and professional world.
In 2019 the college became The Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph and is committed to developing leaders with a social conscience, an environmental sensibility and a commitment to their communities. It offers a wide range of specialized programs in business and economics across undergraduate, graduate and professional education.
Dr. Julia Christensen Hughes closed her presentation by saying the spirit of Adelaide Hoodless lives on in which women should always take place in the business of the day.
Julian Sale thanked Julia Christensen Hughes for her presentation and provided a token of the Club’s appreciation which Ms. Christensen Hughes asked be given to Lakeside Church Boathouse.
Next meeting: Thurs. June 13th, 2019. This meeting is the Annual General Meeting to begin at 9:45 am preceded by coffee at 9:15 am. The guest speaker at the General Membership meeting will be: Michel Fich - Distant Planets and the Search for Life
Adjournment @11:06
Recording Secretary: Kerry Gennings