Message from the Chair, International Review Committee

THE LEADING EDGE ENDOWMENT FUND: OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

The establishment, by the government of British Columbia, of the Leading Edge Endowment Fund (LEEF) was, in my opinion, an imaginative and creative policy decision. It was, and is, a wonderful example of how government can act with other social partners – in this case the universities of British Columbia – to enhance the future of the province – in this case with respect to meeting the challenges of globalization and the knowledge economy.

The LEEF program has presented British Columbia, and especially its universities, with a range of exciting opportunities. Among these are:

• the opportunity to reinforce the established partnership between the provincial government and the province’s universities
• the opportunity for the province’s universities to use the program to further develop funding partnerships with the private sector
• the opportunity to increase the talent pool within the BC universities in particular and, more generally, within the province, and
• the opportunity for each of the province’s universities to examine its own programs and identify special strengths upon which outstanding programs can be built for the future

In addition to all of these special opportunities, the program has served as yet another signal to the people of British Columbia that their future in an era of a globalized knowledge economy is tied to the province’s capacity to develop its human resources at the highest possible level. This, in turn, contributes to the creation of an idea of British Columbia as “avant garde” in the best sense of that phrase (i.e. adventurous, daring). The LEEF program, after all, is limited to a relatively small number of specific academic appointments. The program’s effect will, through the excitement and the knowledge that it generates, extend in the first instance to the entire university community within the province and then to the province as a whole.

Opportunity has knocked, and it is my belief that the province and its universities have responded. I fully expect that both will continue to do so.

Dr. Bernard Shapiro, Chair, LEEF International Review Committee

Dr Shapiro is Principal and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of McGill University and was named the first Ethics Commissioner of Canada in 2004.
Appointed by the LEEF Board of Directors, the International Review Committee is made up of leading academic researchers and university faculty from around the world (Canada, USA, UK and Singapore).  The Committee advises the LEEF Board on the selection of the chairholders, to ensure the international stature of the BC Leadership Chairs program.