STRENGTH TO STRENGTH
The Provost
Provost Andy Orchard
Photography: Nadia Molinari
“The Provost is the de facto CEO of the College, which has long turned out incredible high flyers”
FEBRUARY 2008 – At first glance, it looked as if the wooden angels in Trinity Chapel had come to life. Or so you might think, watching nine little girls in nightgowns scamper across the quad, followed by an even smaller boy and a careful dad trying to keep order. This vision could mean only one thing: a new Provost was in town.
That would be Andy Orchard, the proud father in the above scenario. At 43, Orchard is one of the youngest to hold the position, and likely “the first Provost in a long time to have young children in the Lodge,” he says, laughing at the memory of 11-year-old Ellen’s sleepover party.
But then, the Provosts of Trinity have always brought something new with them. The College has long been famed for turning out what Orchard calls “incredible high flyers,” students who follow the sterling examples of their leaders. English-born Orchard, the 14th person to fulfill the role of Trinity’s de facto CEO, is an author, Beowulf scholar, former mountain guide and rugby player – a highly accomplished man who exemplifies the Trinity ideal.
As did those who came before him. Margaret MacMillan, his immediate predecessor, is a world-renowned historian; George Ignatieff (1972-1978), was a distinguished diplomat; Kenneth Hare (1979-1986), a geographer who brought global climate change to the forefront; Robert Painter (1986-1996), a biochemist whose scientific interests gave rise to the College’s well-regarded immunology program; and Thomas Delworth (1996-2002), a respected diplomat who served as ambassador in Europe and Indonesia.
“The Provost is important to Trinity because, above all, he or she symbolizes that Trinity College has an independent existence within the University of Toronto,” says MacMillan, now Warden of St. Antony’s College at Oxford University.
Trinity College is currently seeking to establish a $3-million endowment to continue its powerful leadership tradition. In 2006, the late Ruth Stedman ’42 designated a generous gift of $500,000 toward that goal – a great start toward a worthy cause.
Most importantly, the endowment will pay for new ideas. MacMillan, the first female Provost, made her mark with such innovations as the Trinity One program (developed and fostered by Derek Allen, dean of arts) and her Pizza with the Provost nights, where students met such guest luminaries as John Polanyi, Marc Garneau and Albert Schultz. Orchard has big plans, too.
In part, these involve showing students a world beyond Trinity. When he was 19, Orchard won a £1,000 scholarship to spend three months in Iceland, which “totally changed my life…the way I think, the way I write, the way I am. I’m very keen on providing international experiences for students, and providing opportunities for them to study abroad or work abroad.”
– Cynthia Macdonald
The Strength to Strength Campaign priorities represent a permanent and lasting investment in Trinity’s future.
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