Congratulations to Jim Leech, RMC Class of 1968, on his Honourary Degree from Queen’s University.
Notice from Queen’s University:
Chancellor Emeritus Jim Leech attended Royal Roads and Royal Military College, earning the Canadian Army Award, and upon graduation joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and served with the Royal 22e Régiment. Following this military service, he earned an MBA from Queen’s which provided the springboard for a successful 42-year business career, with leadership positions across several industries – financial services, energy, real estate, technology start-ups, private equity and pension management.
Leech is best known for his leadership of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan which he joined in 2001 to build a global private investment programme; he was appointed President and CEO in 2007. Upon his retirement in 2014, he co-authored The Third Rail, Confronting our Pension Failures, which won the Best Canadian Business Book Award.
Since retirement, Leech has dedicated his working life to voluntary philanthropic leadership and non-partisan public service including: board chair of the UHN Foundation; board chair of the Mastercard Foundation; founding director of Right to Play International; founding advisory board chair of the Institute for Sustainable Finance at Smith School of Business; Honorary Colonel of 32 Signal Regiment; special advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada to establish the Canada Infrastructure Bank; and 14th Chancellor of Queen’s University.
Queen’s has recognized Jim’s service as a member of the Advisory Board to Smith School of Business, a member of University Council and Board of Trustees plus his seven years as Chancellor and personal philanthropy with the Toronto Branch Award, Alumni Achievement Award and Distinguished Service Award, as well as the Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship in Entrepreneurship, the Jim Leech MBA Scholarship, the Leech classroom in Goodes Hall, the Chancellor Jim Leech Bursary for Indigenous Students and the Jim Leech Ceilidh Centre in the new John Deutsch University Centre.