Carleton Congratulates New University of Alberta President

July 6, 2020

The new president at the University of Alberta is a Carleton University alumnus.

Bill Flanagan, who became the 14^th president of the U of A on July 1, attended Carleton as an undergraduate student, earning a bachelor’s degree in English and Philosophy in 1982.

“Upon graduating high school in Alberta, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the House of Commons Page Program, working as a page part time while attending Carleton,” says Flanagan. “I greatly enjoyed my undergraduate studies at Carleton and some of my fondest memories were listening to the great Stan Rogers singing at Ollie’s. What could be better than that?”

He went on to study law at the University of Toronto, the Université Paris I-Sorbonne and Columbia University before joining the Faculty of Law at Queen’s University in 1991.

Flanagan served as Dean of Law at Queen’s from 2005 until 2019, working closely for two years with Carleton President Benoit-Antoine Bacon, when he was Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) at Queen’s.

“Bill is an accomplished and innovative educator, legal scholar and leader.” says Bacon. “I offer him my warmest congratulations and wish him the very best in his new role.”

“I had the great pleasure of working closely with President Bacon during his time as Provost at Queen’s,” says Flanagan. “Benoit was most generous with his wise counsel as I considered the move to the University of Alberta and I look forward to working closely with him in my new role.”