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Speeches.
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Biographical history
James Downey was born in Winterton, Newfoundland in 1939. He graduated from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and attended the University of London as a Rothermere Fellow where he earned a Ph.D. in English Literature. Downey began his career at Carleton University. There, he held a series of academic and administrative posts including Vice-President Academic and President pro tempore.
From 1980 to 1990, Downey was President of the University of New Brunswick. During that period, he also served terms as President of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, Chair of the Association of Atlantic Universities, and Chair of the Corporate-Higher Education Forum.
From 1990 to 1993, Downey was Special Advisor to the Premier of New Brunswick; Special Advisor to the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; and co-chair of the New Brunswick Commission on Excellence in Education, which published two reports that guided educational reform in that province.
James Downey was President of the University of Waterloo from 1993 to 1999. During his presidency of the University of Waterloo, he also served terms as Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and Chair of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
After stepping down as president of the University of Waterloo, he founded and directed Canada’s first centre for the study of co-operative education, located at Waterloo; led an annual seminar for new university presidents sponsored by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada; and from 2007 to 2010 was the founding president of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
Among Downey's awards are nine honorary degrees; the Symons Medal for outstanding service to higher education in the Commonwealth, received from the Association of Commonwealth Universities in 2000; and the David C. Smith Award for contributions to universities and public policy in Canada, received from the Council of Ontario Universities in 2003. In 1996, Downey was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. And, in 2005, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Royal Military College of Canada.
Downey's publications include The Eighteenth Century pulpit (Oxford University Press, 1969), Fearful joy (McGill-Queen1s University Press, 1973), Schools for a new Century and to live and learn (reports of the New Brunswick Commission on Excellence in Education, 1992, 1993), and Innovation : essays by leading Canadian researchers, edited with Lois Claxton (Key Porter Books, 2002).
James Downey died in March 2022.
Custodial history
Scope and content
Materials related to speeches and addresses given by James Downey between the years 1980 and 1992. Includes drafts and final versions of speeches.
Titles of speeches are:
- “UNB Installation address” (October 16, 1980),
- “UNBSJ Awards ceremony” (November 4, 1980),
- “Special Convocation,” Kenya Technical Teachers College, Nairobi (December 3, 1980),
- “Sex & violence in eighteenth-Century hymns & sermons,” Humanities Association, St. John’s (April 3, 1981),
- “The third wave: ripple or breaker? Education in the eighties,” New Brunswick Teachers Association, St. Thomas University (May 7, 1981),
- “The perils of planning,” Atlantic Planners Institute, Fredericton (September 11, 1981),
- “The English professor as administrator,” Atlantic Universities Teachers of English, Fredericton (October 22, 1982),
- “Some thoughts on higher education in New Brunswick and UNB’s place in it,” Senior Public Service Managers, Province of New Brunswick (February 3, 1983),
- “A Freudian view of physical fitness,” College of New Brunswick Psychologists, UNB, Ottawa (April 13, 1983),
- “Academic freedom and freedom of the press,” Canadian Daily Newspaper Publishers Association, Algonquin Hotel, St. Andrews, New Brunswick (September 21, 1983),
- “When Jesus and Socrates meet,” Wilmot United Church, Fredericton (November 20, 1983),
- “The entrepreneurial spirit,” Tourism Management Education Conference, Saint John (November 18, 1983),
- “Financing higher education & research,” Financial Post Conference, Ottawa (March 13, 1985),
- “Don’t forget to smell the flowers,” Fredericton High School Graduation (June 20, 1985),
- “The role of universities in understanding the social impact of technology,” 14th Commonwealth Universities Congress, Perth, Australia (February 1988),
- “University autonomy: myth or reality?” Institute of Public Affairs, Canada, Fredericton (January 19, 1989),
- “Lord, it's hard to be humble,” St. Paul’s United Church (October 29, 1989),
- “Business & education in the nineties: charting a new course, Toronto (April 17, 1990),
- “Capacity of universities to change,” Queen’s University Council (May 11, 1990),
- “Distinguished citizens awards dinner,” Fredericton (February 18, 1990),
- “Catcher in the ivy,” Special Convocation, Memorial University of Newfoundland (February 2, 1991),
- “22nd Conference of the Council for National Unity,” Chateau Laurier Hotel, Ottawa (April 5, 1991),
- “Why I support the Charlottetown Accord,” University of New Brunswick (October 23, 1982),
- “Address to the Canadian Hospital Association, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (June 12, 1992),
- “Carleton North High School graduation,” Carleton North High School (June 24, 1992),
- “Canadian unity: a joking matter,” Leacock Luncheon, McGill University (September 18, 1992),
- “The Canadian University presidency: a perspective senior universities administrators course,” Banff, Alberta (May 1992).
Notes area
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Donated by James Downey in 2019.
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- English
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The records in this file were physically separated into multiple folders.
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Described by CGD in 2022.
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- English