About the Chancellor
The Honourable Diane F. Griffin, OPEI, BSc, BEd, MSc, LLD
The Honourable Diane F. Griffin of Stratford, Prince Edward Island was installed as UPEI's tenth Chancellor on April 5, 2024. Read the news story
The Hon. Diane F. Griffin has a long and active involvement in public service, and charitable and public service groups at all levels. She is currently the chair of Health PEI, the health authority responsible for the delivery of publicly funded health services in Prince Edward Island. She spent five years representing Prince Edward Island in the Senate of Canada from 2016 until 2022, and has served on and chaired many local, regional and national boards and committees over an extended career. She has worked at all three levels of government, serving as a town councillor for the Town of Stratford from 2006 until 2016. Prior to serving as a town councillor, Dr. Griffin served as a deputy minister for Fisheries and Environment for the Government of Prince Edward Island.
A recipient of the Governor General’s Conservation Award and the Order of PEI, the Hon. Diane F. Griffin is known across the country as an environmental and conservation activist. She worked with the Prince Edward Island Nature Trust, was the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s program manager for PEI, and served on national boards and advisory groups such as Nature Canada. She is a graduate of UPEI (BEd ’73) and Saint Dunstan’s University (BSc ’69), and received an honorary Doctor of Laws from UPEI in 2013.
Dr. Griffin is passionate about literacy, history, agriculture, birdwatching, and preserving and protecting the environment, and is the recipient of many environmental awards. She has lectured at several universities including UPEI; has published several papers; and has presented and been consulted on a wide range of topics including agricultural and trade policies, eco-economics, national forest strategy, natural heritage, and protection and conservation.