Today, the Minister of Advanced Education announced new board appointments for 11 Alberta post-secondary institutions, including MacEwan University.

The new board members, including a new board chair, at MacEwan are:

Board Chair Carolyn Graham. Carolyn was a member of the MacEwan Board of Governors from 2011 to 2017. During her previous tenure on the board, she made many valuable contributions to university operations, leading our Audit Committee of the Board, and improving the university’s audit and financial processes. She has been with Canadian Western Bank (CWB) since 2000 and currently serves as CWB’s executive vice-president and chief financial officer.

Adam Guiney, public member. Adam is a MacEwan alumnus (BA transfer, 2006) and a graduate of the University of Alberta. He is general manager at Antrim Industries, which specializes in disaster restoration. He serves on the boards of the Beaumont Credit Union and the Edmonton Petroleum Club.

Samantha Kernahan, public member. Samantha is associate counsel at DLA Piper (Canada) LLP, where her areas of practice include intellectual property and technology law; trademarks and copyright; and anti-spam compliance. Samantha also served as general counsel at MacEwan.

Janice Sarich, public member. Janice represented the provincial riding of Edmonton-Decore in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 2008 to 2015. She is now president of It Begins With You, an enterprise that motivates and inspires entrepreneurs in the areas of leadership, business development, health and wellness, and social development.

These changes are effective immediately.

I would like to express my appreciation to our outgoing board chair, Ione Challborn. She has been a tireless champion for the university in our community, and her leadership and counsel have been invaluable through a period of transition at MacEwan. I would also like to thank outgoing board members Sharon Bodnarchuk, Meghan DeRoo McConnan and Judy Piercey for their many contributions to the university.

Congratulations to our new board members. We are looking forward to working with them and our currentboard members.