Carleton Mourns the Loss of Bill Teron
Carleton is mourning the loss of a prominent member of the university community, developer and philanthropist Bill Teron, who is known as the “Father of Kanata” and left his mark on housing and urban planning policy around the world.
Teron, a former member of Carleton’s Board of Governors, passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 12 at Ottawa’s Queensway Carleton Hospital at the age of 85.
He is survived by his wife, Jean (nee Woodward), who is also a former member and former chair of the Board of Governors, and his four children Chris (Louisa), Kim (Ross Tuddenham), Will (Amy) and Bruce (Adrienne). Bill and Jean met on the Carleton campus in 1953, and Jean and their son Chris are both Carleton alumni.
“On behalf of the university community, I would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to Jean and the Teron family,” said Carleton President Alastair Summerlee. “Bill had a tremendous impact locally, nationally and internationally, and he will be sadly missed by family, friends and colleagues.”
Teron was one of the “big three” developers who helped shepherd the growth of booming Ottawa after the Second World War, and helped lay the residential and technology park foundation that allowed Kanata to blossom into “Silicon Valley North.”
All told, he was responsible for the construction of more than 13 million square feet of houses, hotels, and office and industrial buildings in Canada, the United States and Europe, travelling the world to transfer his housing technology to other countries to help them address their housing problems and objectives.
Teron also shaped national housing and urban policy as head of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and as deputy minister in the Ministry of State for Urban Affairs.
In 2013, Jean and Bill were awarded the degrees of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by Carleton “in recognition of outstanding contribution to business and commitment to philanthropic endeavours and the community.”
The couple endowed several scholarships and prizes for outstanding Architecture students at Carleton.
“We had a lot of developers who thought inside the box. Bill was always looking for the new thing and new directions,” Carleton History Prof. Bruce Elliott told the Ottawa Citizen. “I think that’s why (former prime minister) Pierre Trudeau appointed him as head of CMHC.”
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