The Honourable Diane Griffin installed as UPEI’s tenth Chancellor
The Honourable Diane F. Griffin was installed as the tenth Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island during a ceremony held at the University on Friday, April 5. She was unanimously elected to the volunteer position earlier this year by UPEI’s Board of Governors.
As Chancellor, Griffin will preside over the University’s Convocation ceremonies each spring, conferring degrees, diplomas, and certificates.
Griffin, who lives in Stratford, PEI, is currently the chair of Health PEI, the health authority responsible for the delivery of publicly funded health services in Prince Edward Island. She represented the province in the Senate of Canada from 2016 to 2022, and has served on and chaired many local, regional, and national boards and committees during her extended career. Prior to her appointment to the Senate, she was a councillor for the Town of Stratford and deputy minister for PEI Fisheries and Environment.
A recipient of the Governor General’s Conservation Award, the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and the Order of PEI, 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.
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, protection, and conservation.
Griffin replaces UPEI’s ninth chancellor, the Honourable Catherine Callbeck. She is the third woman to hold the post; Doris H. Anderson was UPEI’s first female Chancellor from 1992–96.
UPEI’s past Chancellors and their installation dates:
• The Honourable Thane A. Campbell, CC, MA, LLD, May 14, 1970
• Gustave Gingras, CC, MD, FRSA, LLD, FRCP(c),May 12, 1974
• David Macdonald Stewart, OC, CStJ, KLJ, FRSA, FHS(c), LLD, DBA, October 1, 1982
• The Honourable Gordon L. Bennett, OC, BSc, MSc, LLD, DCL, March 9, 1985
• Doris H. Anderson, CC, BA, LLD, October 24, 1992
• Norman Webster (Chancellor Emeritus), CM, BA, MA, DCL, November 2, 1996
• William (Bill) Andrew, DipEng, BEng, March 6, 2005
• Donald (Don) McDougall, BA, MBA, LLD, March 30, 2014
• The Honourable Catherine Callbeck, CM, OPEI, BComm, BEd, LLD, September 29, 2018
