David Ferguson Named Chair of the Board of Governors  

Former senior public servant David Ferguson has been appointed chair of St. Thomas University’s board of governors effective March 1.  

 

In addition, several new external members – Stacey Couturier, Ellen Desmond, KC, and Vaughn Sturgeon – have recently joined the board.  

 

Ferguson has served on the board since 2017 and has made an important contribution to governance. Most recently, he led the search committee that led to the selection of Dr. M. Nauman Farooqi as president and vice-chancellor. He has also chaired the human resources committee and was a member of the executive and government relations committees. 

 

He was a senior provincial public servant in New Brunswick who served as clerk of the executive council and secretary to cabinet. He began his career in the public service in 1972 and subsequently was appointed deputy minister of advanced education and labour, deputy solicitor general, deputy minister of natural resources and energy, and deputy minister of natural resources. In 2011, he was appointed chair of the board of Horizon Health Authority where he served for five years. He has also volunteered for several other community groups such as Portage Atlantic and Learnsphere Canada.  

 

He succeeds alumnus Peter Forestell, KC who served as chair of the board of governor for more than six years.   

 

The biographies of the members of the board of St. Thomas University may be found here.