Mohawk College is honoured to present Keith McIntyre with the title of President Emeritus. This is the first President Emeritus honour presented by Mohawk College. The title of President Emeritus is reserved for former Mohawk College presidents who provided outstanding and distinguished service to the college.
A pioneer of the new Ontario college system established in 1968, Keith joined Mohawk College in 1976 as vice president. He was appointed president of Mohawk College in 1980 and led the college for 17 years, retiring in 1996. Along the way, he guided the growth of the college and celebrated many firsts.
A champion of co-operative education, Keith became an internationally recognized leader in the promotion of co-operative education, which allows students to alternate between paid work terms and class studies. Keith helped found the World Association for Co-operative Education and then served in the association’s leadership for 3 years. Closer to home, he was instrumental in building the partnership with McMaster University that led to the construction of the Institute for Applied Health Sciences, and the unique, long-standing collaboration between the college and the university that has continued to flourish and grow in the years since.
Working with the Students Representative Council (the precursor to the Mohawk Students’ Association), Keith played a leadership role in building the first Student Centre at an Ontario college, without any funding from government. He also led the college during its expansion into Brantford with the construction of a new campus on the outskirts of the city in 1992, and helped to grow the college’s presence in the skilled trades and apprenticeship programs with the expansion of programs from the former Wentworth Campus in Hamilton to the campuses in Brantford and Stoney Creek.
In 1983, Keith helped to establish the Mohawk College Foundation. Based on the model used by hospitals throughout Ontario, the Mohawk College Foundation was set up to protect and facilitate charitable donations made to the college during a time of decreasing government support. The Mohawk College Foundation continues to play an important role in supporting the students and the college to this day.
Outside of the college, Keith was active in the community, serving on several boards and volunteering his time with local clubs and associations. He was a founding board member of the Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness (CCEP) and the Canadian Disaster Recovery Institute (CDRI). He was a member of the Hamilton Downtown Rotary Club for 32 years, serving as president from 2004 to 2005. He served on the boards for the St. Peter’s Hospital Foundation, Joseph Brant Hospital, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Hamilton Automobile Club.
Keith has a Bachelor of Applied Science, Engineering and Business, from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Business Administration, Operations Management and Supervision from McMaster University. He also holds honorary doctorates from McMaster University, Northeastern University (Boston, MA) and the University of Waterloo.