# List of Wilfrid Laurier University people

Wilfrid Laurier University is a public university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and was founded in 1911 as the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary of Canada and later Waterloo Lutheran University. It was renamed Wilfrid Laurier University in 1973 by the Government of Ontario under the Wilfrid Laurier University Act in 1973. The school is one of the fastest-growing universities in Canada; its enrollment doubled from 2002 to 2007, and it has 12,000 full-time undergraduate students as of 2008. Wilfrid Laurier University also has two satellite campuses in Brantford and Kitchener, both in Ontario.
People associated with Wilfrid Laurier University include faculty, alumni, staff, honorary degree recipients, chancellors, and presidents. The university has had nine chancellors, including the incumbent Michael Lee-Chin. Wilfrid Laurier University has had seven presidents, including the incumbent Deborah MacLatchy, who has served in this position since 1 July 2017.

## Alumni and faculty

    Fields with a — have unknown values.

### Alumni

| Name | Relationship | Discipline | Known for |
| Harold Albrecht | Undergraduate | General | Member of Parliament |
| Dean Allison | Undergraduate | Economics | Conservative member of Parliament |
| Ted Arnott | Undergraduate | Business administration | Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament |
| Paul Bennett | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League defensive back |
| Mary Berg | Undergraduate | History and English | Chef, television personality, cookbook author |
| David Black | Undergraduate | English and anthropology | Canadian Football League offensive lineman |
| Robert Boyce | Undergraduate | Economics | Senior lecturer at London School of Economics |
| Nikola Budalić | Undergraduate | MBA | Soccer player |
| Glen Chorny | Undergraduate | Business and history | Poker player |
| Rod Connop | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League offensive lineman |
| Sean Conway | Undergraduate | Politics | Legislative Assembly of Ontario member |
| Jean Crowder | Undergraduate | Psychology | Politician |
| Bill Downe | Undergraduate | Business | Bank of Montreal president and CEO |
| Doug Downey | Undergraduate | Political Science | Attorney General of Ontario and Progressive Conservative member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament |
| Cindy Eadie | Undergraduate | Economics | Hockey goaltender |
| John Estacio | Undergraduate | Composition | Composer |
| Ken Evraire | Undergraduate | Communication studies | Television journalist |
| John Glassford | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League linebacker |
| Corey Grant | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League wide receiver |
| Raj Grewal | Undergraduate | Business | Member of Parliament |
| Paul Heinbecker | Research fellow | Politics | Canadian ambassador to the United Nations |
| Lyndon Hooper | Undergraduate | Physical education | Soccer player |
| Paul James | Undergraduate | Sociology | Soccer analyst |
| Carl Klinck | Undergraduate | General | Waterloo College professor |
| Dave Knechtel | Undergraduate | Economics | Canadian Football League defensive tackle |
| Jenna Lambert | Undergraduate | Athlete | Swam across Lake Ontario despite having cerebral palsy |
| William C. Leggett | Undergraduate | General | Queen's University principal |
| Dave Levac | Undergraduate | — | Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario |
| Ian Logan | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League safety |
| Brian Masse | Undergraduate | Sociology | Member of the House of Commons of Canada |
| Chuck McMann | Undergraduate | Psychology | Canadian Football League player |
| Ted McMeekin | Graduate | Social work | Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario |
| Jacob Moon | Undergraduate | Music | Singer-songwriter |
| Heather Munroe-Blum | Graduate | Social work | McGill University principal |
| Cheryl Pounder | Undergraduate | Sports | Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist - Ice Hockey |
| Jim Reid | Undergraduate | Sports | CFL player |
| Damien Robitaille | Undergraduate | Classical music | Musician |
| Anthony Rota | Undergraduate | Politics | Member of the House of Commons of Canada |
| Donnie Ruiz | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League free safety |
| Jeffrey Ryan | Undergraduate | Music | Composer |
| Shad | Undergraduate | Business | Hip hop musician |
| Doug Smith | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League offensive lineman |
| Charles Sousa | Undergraduate | Business | Canadian Member of Provincial Parliament |
| Lance Storm | Undergraduate | Business | World Wrestling Entertainment professional wrestler |
| Andre Talbot | Undergraduate | Sports | Canadian Football League wide receiver |
| Kenneth Tam | Graduate | History | Science-fiction author |
| Keegan Connor Tracy | Undergraduate | Social psychology | Actress |
| Ian Troop | Undergraduate | Business | CEO, 2015 Pan Am Games |
| Larry Uteck | Graduate | Sports | Canadian Football League player |
| Chris Van Vliet | Undergraduate | Communications | Television personality and journalist |
| Laura Walker | Undergraduate | — | Curler |
| Andrew Witer | Undergraduate | — | Member of the House of Commons of Canada |
| Stephen Woodworth | Undergraduate | Law | Politician |
| Carolyn A. Wilkins | Undergraduate | Economics | Economist and first woman to serve as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada |
* Sam Schachter (born 1990), Olympic volleyball player
{Karl W Schweizer;1966–69;Author and Historian}

### Faculty

| Name | Relationship | Discipline | Known for |
| Kimberly Barber | Professor | Opera | Mezzo-soprano and vocal pedagogue |
| Marie Bountrogianni | Assistant professor | — | Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario |
| Phelim Boyle | Professor | Finance | Initiating the use of Monte Carlo methods in option pricing |
| Jim Breithaupt | Board of Governors member | — | Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario |
| Terry Copp | Professor emeritus | Military history | Professor |
| Craig Fleisher | Professor | Economics | Researcher |
| Walter Hachborn | Board of Governors member | — | Co-founder of Home Hardware |
| Brian Henderson | Director of Laurier Press | — | Poet |
| Shohini Ghose | Professor | | Physics |
| Morgan Holmes | Professor | Sociology | Intersex activist and scholar |
| Tuffy Knight | Coach | Sports | Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks head coach |
| John Warwick Montgomery | Chairman | History | Chairman of the Department of History |
| Donald Morgenson | Professor | Psychology | Contributions to humanistic psychology |
| Alison Mountz | Professor | Geography | Canada Research Chair in Global Migration |
| Kim Ondaatje | Lecturer | Literature | Part-time lecturer |
| John Reimer | Board of Governors member | — | Member of Parliament |
| Adele Reinhartz | Dean | Literature | Dean of Graduate Studies and Research |
| Roger Sarty | Professor | Military history | Canadian Forces Maritime Command historian |
| Lindsay Shepherd | Teaching assistant | Communication studies | Free-speech activism |
| Linda Catlin Smith | Professor | Music theory | Professor of composition Wilfrid Laurier |
| Andrew Telegdi | Board of Governors member | — | Former Liberal Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada (1993–2008) |
| Cynthia Johnston Turner | Dean of the Faculty of Music | Music | Conductor |
| Norman Wagner | Dean of graduate studies | Literature | Archaeologist |
| Darren Wershler-Henry | Assistant professor | Communication studies | Experimental poet |

## Honorary degree recipients

    DDiv – Doctor of Divinity; DLitt – Doctor of Letters; LLD – Doctor of Laws
| Name | Degree | Year | Known for | Notes |
| John Black Aird | LLD | November 1975 | Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada | |
| Raffi Armenian | LLD | June 1991 | Conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher | |
| Lloyd Axworthy | LLD | June 2008 | Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada | |
| Thomas Axworthy | LLD | June 2003 | Principal Secretary of Canada | |
| Maude Barlow | DLitt | June 2004 | National chairperson of The Council of Canadians | |
| James Bartleman | LLD | June 2007 | Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario | |
| Adam Beach | DLitt | June 2014 | Actor | |
| Derek Burney | LLD | June 1998 | Progressive Conservative Party of Canada political strategist | |
| Micheline Charest | LLD | June 1997 | Founder of Cookie Jar Group | |
| David Barr Chilton | DLitt | June 2006 | Author and self-publisher of The Wealthy Barber | |
| Jean Chrétien | LLD | May 1981 | Prime Minister of Canada | |
| John E. Cleghorn | LLD | October 1991 | Chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Canada | |
| Terry Copp | LLD | June 2005 | Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University | |
| Maureen Kempston Darkes | LLD | June 1998 | General Motors vice president | |
| William Grenville Davis | LLD | October 1963 | Progressive Conservative Premier of Ontario | |
| Paul Desmarais | LLD | May 1979 | Fifth richest person in Canada | |
| John George Diefenbaker | LLD | November 1968 | Prime Minister of Canada | |
| Pat Doherty | DLitt | October 1993 | Vice president of Sinn Féin | |
| Howard Dyck | LLD | May 1996 | Conductor and broadcaster | |
| Deborah Ellis | DLitt | June 2005 | Winner of the Governor General's Award | |
| John English | DLitt | May 1992 | Academic | |
| Willard Zebedee Estey | LLD | May 1977 | Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada | |
| John Robert Evans | LLD | May 1975 | Chairman of the Rockefeller Foundation | |
| Timothy Findley | DLitt | June 2001 | Novelist and playwright | |
| Donald Methuen Fleming | LLD | October 1967 | Official of the International Monetary Fund | |
| Maureen Forrester | LLD | November 1975 | Operatic contralto | |
| Franklin Clark Fry | LLD | October 1963 | Lutheran clergyman | |
| Richard Goldstone | LLD | October 1995 | South African judge | |
| Buzz Hargrove | LLD | June 2004 | National president of the Canadian Auto Workers | |
| George Harris Hees | LLD | May 1961 | Politician | |
| Paul Heinbecker | LLD | May 1993 | Canadian ambassador to the United Nations | |
| James Hillier | LLD | May 2002 | Built the first electron microscope in North America | |
| Mel Hurtig | LLD | October 1985 | President of the Art Gallery of Alberta | |
| Diamond Jenness | LLD | May 1962 | Anthropology | |
| Russell Johnson (acoustician) | LLD | June 2003 | Architectural Acoustician | |
| Urho Kaleva Kekkonen | LLD | October 1961 | Prime Minister of Finland | |
| Anton Kuerti | DLitt | June 2005 | Concert pianist | |
| John Francis Leddy | LLD | November 1972 | President of the University of Windsor | |
| Michael Lee-Chin | LLD | October 2008 | Executive of AIC Limited | |
| William Leggett | LLD | October 1994 | Principal of Queen's University | |
| Stephen Lewis | LLD | May 1988 | Social science scholar-in-residence at McMaster University | |
| Arthur Reginald Marsden Lower | DLitt | May 1964 | Royal Navy officer | |
| William Ross Macdonald | LLD | May 1964 | Lieutenant Governor of Ontario | |
| Allan Joseph MacEachen | LLD | October 1976 | Deputy Prime Minister of Canada | |
| Hugh MacLennan | DLitt | October 1961 | Recipient of the Governor General's Award | |
| Paul Joseph James Martin | LLD | May 1967 | Politician | |
| Paul Martin | LLD | June 2001 | Governor General's Award, Prime Minister of Canada | [127] [128] |
| Burton Matthews | LLD | June 1996 | President of the University of Guelph | |
| Marnie McBean | LLD | June 1999 | Rower at the 2000 Summer Olympics | |
| Jack McClelland | DLitt | May 1994 | Publisher | |
| Loreena McKennitt | DLitt | December 2002 | Celtic music singer | |
| Walter McLean | LLD | May 1995 | Member of Parliament | |
| Norah Evangeline Michener | LLD | November 1969 | Wife of Governor General of Canada | |
| Charles Hibbert Millard | LLD | May 1970 | Trade union activist | |
| John A. Miller | DDiv | May 1966 | Roller coaster designer | |
| Heather Munroe-Blum | LLD | October 2005 | Principal of McGill University | |
| Jan Narveson | DLitt | May 1989 | Professor at University of Waterloo | |
| Peter C. Newman | LLD | May 1983 | Journalist | |
| Christopher Newton | DLitt | June 1997 | Artistic director of the Shaw Festival | |
| Landon Pearson | LLD | May 1995 | Canadian senator | |
| Lester Bowles Pearson | LLD | December 1964 | Prime Minister of Canada | |
| John A. Pollock | LLD | October 2001 | Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University | |
| Jack Rabinovitch | LLD | October 2007 | Founder of the Scotiabank Giller Prize | |
| John Parmenter Robarts | LLD | May 1971 | Premier of Ontario | |
| Philip Bernard Rynard | LLD | October 1979 | Physician, surgeon, and politician | |
| Nafis Sadik | LLD | October 1995 | Special adviser to the Secretary-General of the United Nations | |
| Edward Togo Salmon | DLitt | November 1974 | Ancient historian | |
| Myron S. Scholes | LLD | October 2005 | Co-author of the Black–Scholes model | |
| Carol Shields | DLitt | October 2000 | Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction | |
| Joseph Roberts Smallwood | LLD | May 1962 | Premier of Newfoundland | |
| Edna Staebler | DLitt | October 1984 | Cookbook author | |
| Mark Starowicz | DLitt | June 2001 | Journalist and producer | |
| David Strangway | LLD | June 1997 | Founder of Quest University | |
| John Sweeney | LLD | May 1992 | Politician and educator | |
| Kurt Waldheim | LLD | May 1974 | Secretary-General of the United Nations | |
| David James Walker | LLD | May 1976 | Politician | |
| Pamela Wallin | DLitt | June 1999 | Television journalist | |
| Patrick Watson | LLD | October 1989 | Broadcaster, author, and commentator | |
| Sheila Watt-Cloutier | LLD | October 2008 | Inuit activist | |
| Rudy Wiebe | DLitt | June 1991 | Professor at the University of Alberta | |
| Eric Alfred Winkler | LLD | November 1974 | Politician | |
| Klaus Woerner | LLD | October 1999 | Founder of ATS Automation Tooling Systems | |
| John Yaremko | LLD | May 1969 | Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario | |

## Administration
### Chancellors

Wilfrid Laurier University has had eleven chancellors.
| # | Name | Term |
| 1 | William Daum Euler | May 20, 1961 – July 1961 |
| 2 | Ross Macdonald | December 6, 1964 – June 1972 |
| 3 | Paul Martin Sr. | June 1972 – April 30, 1977 |
| 4 | John Black Aird | July 4, 1977 – July 3, 1985 |
| 5 | Maureen Forrester | May 25, 1986 – May 29, 1990 |
| 6 | Willard Estey | July 12, 1990 – October 30, 1995 |
| 7 | John Cleghorn | October 27, 1996 – June 10, 2003 |
| 8 | Bob Rae | September 1, 2003 – March 30, 2008 |
| 9 | John A. Pollock | March 31, 2008 – October 27, 2011 |
| 10 | Michael Lee-Chin | October 28, 2011 – September 13, 2016 |
| 11 | Eileen Mercier | September 14, 2016 – present |

### Presidents

Wilfrid Laurier University has had eight presidents.
| # | Name | Term |
| 1 | William Villaume | 1960–1966 |
| 2 | Frank Peters | 1967–1978 |
| 3 | Neale Tayler | 1978–1982 |
| 4 | John A. Weir | 1982–1992 |
| 5 | Lorna Marsden | 1992–1997 |
| 6 | Robert Rosehart | 1997–2006 |
| 7 | Max Blouw | 2007–2017 |
| 8 | Deborah MacLatchy | 2017–present |