Universities world-wide share Rotary’s commitment to making a difference by empowering the next generation. And, in a world where change has become the only constant, we are particularly focused on our social role as catalysts for innovation

On April 5th I had the great pleasure of a wide-ranging conversation with two esteemed colleagues who know a thing or three about universities. One was Heather Munroe-Blum, who will complete her second and final five-year term as Principal of McGill University on June 30th. The other was U of T President Emeritus J. Robert [...]

Tackling Two Dangerous Myths About Higher Education & Advanced Research Address to the Empire Club of Canada Earlier this week, the University of Toronto made a wonderful decision in naming Meric Gertler as my successor as President. As my term winds down, I have to say that it has been an extraordinary privilege to serve [...]

Remarks by Professor David Naylor On the dedication of the Nexus Community Lounge at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in honour of The Hon. William G. Davis, P.C., C.C., Q.C., LL.D. Download the text as a PDF… Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to join you here at the Ontario Institute for Studies [...]

By way of a quick overview, my talk today, of course, is about two urban regions – Hong Kong and Toronto – regions that differ sharply in many ways, but also have much in common including some shared history.

The University of Toronto is a vibrant and diverse academic community.

Remarks to the 9th annual meeting of the Science and Technology in Society Forum Check against delivery. (Download a PDF version.) Let me begin by extending my sincere appreciation to Mr. Koji Omi for the kind invitation to be a part of the STS Forum this year and to be here with you today. I [...]

The University of Toronto is a vibrant and diverse academic community. It includes 12,000 colleagues holding faculty appointments, 200 librarians, 6,000 staff members, and 80,000 students across three distinctive campuses and at many partner sites, including world-renowned hospitals. More than a key resource to Ontario, the University is one of the most respected and influential institutions of higher education and advanced research in the world.

On this date in 1939, Canada declared war on Nazi Germany. Over the course of the war, more than one million Canadians served alongside our allies in the causes of freedom and social justice. Many faculty, staff, students, and graduates of this university served with distinction among them.

A simple statistic says it all. Today, in total research output, the top two universities in the world, in order, are Harvard and Toronto.

President Naylor appeared on TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin to discuss post-secondary education in Ontario.

This is a recent interview on creativity, innovation, and education with Dr. David Naylor. This piece originally appeared online in the Globe and Mail on the April 4, 2012.

Let me start with a story. In another metropolitan region, the head of one of the local development agencies has a shtick with visiting politicians and dignitaries. He invites them to do a mini-interview. What visitor can say no? Watch the speech on YouTube.

In a country where jurisdictional wrangling often impedes progress, the Knowledge Infrastructure Program stands out as an example of three levels of governments working together for the benefit of all Canadians.

Thank you for sending along your UTFA newsletter focusing on long-term changes in the allocations of the University’s annual operating budget.

When the University of Toronto opened its doors in 1827, the muddy little town of York was not even a city, and farmland and forest sprawled just beyond the campus. How things have changed.

A serendipitous combination of great location, staff dedication and alumni loyalty has helped to propel Toronto to world-class status, says David Naylor, and promises to keep it there.

Convocation address to Science/Medical Science Baccalaureates, University of Western Ontario, June 16, 2011. David Naylor President, University of Toronto (Honorary Graduate)

Recently we have seen some sweeping criticism of the role of philanthropy in Canadian society. Given the positive impacts of philanthropy on our institution, it was perhaps inevitable that the University of Toronto and some of its most prominent supporters would be singled out. Critical thinking and reasoned debate, after all, are at the core [...]

Some skeptics may ask: What difference can 20 new superstar researchers really make in a country the size of Canada? In a recession, shouldn’t we be funding industrial research with faster returns? The answer, I am glad to say, is that this group of superstars can and will make a big difference.

Remarks at the launch celebration of The Commission Report, Health Professionals for a New Century, Transforming education for health systems in an interdependent world. Hosted by: Harvard School of Public Health in cooperation with The Lancet, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the China Medical Board. Introductory remarks for Panel 1: [...]

It is a great honour to be here today as we officially re-dedicate the South Building as the William G. Davis Building here at U of T Mississauga. Bill Davis is one of the giants of the University of Toronto community, and nowhere is his commitment to excellence in post-secondary education more evident than at [...]

To highlight “views from the top”—both from the top of the institution and from the top of the IT organization—and to explore how the IT organization can best align with and support the institutional mission, this Leadership department column asks three questions of the president and three similar questions of the CIO.

Thank you, President [Debbie] Stewart, Secretary [Roger] Riendeau – and thank you to the whole Faculty Club Board for your kind invitation. Special thanks also to Leanne Pepper, the Club’s indefatigable General Manager. I am delighted to be here to help mark this important milestone, and to see so many friends, colleagues, and familiar faces. [...]

Universities across the province are increasingly being seen as leaders in environmental sustainability. At U of T, we pride ourselves on our accomplishments in three primary areas…

As each of us in the University pursues the daily work of scholarship and administration, it is worthwhile to reflect on the health of our interactions as a diverse community.

Thank you for the privilege of addressing you tonight. As with all privileges, I know this one comes with responsibilities. Your stomachs are empty, and I stand between you and dinner. I am also due out the door by 7.10 pm. So, this is what management consultants like to call — an alignment of incentives! …That’s something that doesn’t happen much in Canadian healthcare.

Good afternoon. I would like to thank this afternoon’s speakers and thank you all for joining us, to express our solidarity with the people of Haiti.

Invited Editorial, India Abroad David Naylor OC MD DPhil President, The University of Toronto A Personal Note On November 18th, I returned to Toronto following a multi-university round-table in Delhi led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper with Ministers Lawrence Cannon and Stockwell Day. By December 4th, I was on my way to India again, this [...]

Originally, the organizers thought that I should be given an hour to lecture you on the importance of Darwin and the Origin of Species, however …

It’s an honour to be speaking to this distinguished and dynamic gathering. I had wondered if the reference to a final exam in the title might have brought back bad memories and scared more of you away. Happily not, I see. And of course it’s just a figure of speech designed to emphasize that this is not some professorial lecture – I have as many questions as answers here, and I’m looking forward to the discussion.

This golden anniversary gala reflects the vision of James Gairdner and his family’s loyalty to that vision. It reflects the dedicated service of volunteers who have helped to guide and support the Gairdner Foundation and choose the winners. And it also reflects the leadership and tireless efforts of the individual who has led the Foundation so successfully since 1993 — Dr John Dirks.

We live in challenging times. The Great Crash of 2008 has taken a huge toll on employment and on trade. Famous companies have collapsed after decades of success. Trillions of dollars of wealth has evaporated. Governments have joined forces to shape a new economic order. And they have embarked on massive stimulus spending while cutting interest rates to unprecedented levels.

Week after week, headlines in this newspaper raise unsettling questions about Canadaʹs international competitiveness. Canada has some of the best value‐added natural resource companies in the world. But, in the global race to build an innovation‐based economy, we are lagging behind countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Israel.

Today is a day of celebration of important partnerships and the next step in a decades-long process of collaboration, one of the defining features of life at the University of Toronto.

Good afternoon faculty, staff, students and friends of biochemistry, from our affiliated hospitals and from the larger university community.

It is a great pleasure for me to participate in this Annual General Meeting of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, a unique agency of the City of Toronto, and a model for new municipal climate organizations around the world.

My name is David Naylor, 15th President of the University of Toronto and it is my honour and pleasure to welcome to the University of Toronto His Excellency, the Former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam.

It is my pleasure to welcome you – especially those who have not had the privilege of being here before – to the new Varsity Centre, right across the street from the site of the future Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport.

Good morning Chancellor Graham, faculty, students and guests to the first annual International Relations Society Conference. My name is David Naylor, President of the University of Toronto, and it is my great pleasure to be here this morning, and to discuss the role of Canadian universities on a shrinking planet.

I am grateful to the Royal Society of Canada for this opportunity to address such an outstanding audience. The Royal Society is a meritocracy with extensive reach and a profound commitment to research and excellence in the arts, humanities and sciences. The Society needs and deserves our collective support. And in that respect, I want to thank all of tonight’s sponsors for their generosity and vision.

As an institution with a 180-year history, we have had a few decades to put up some magnificent buildings. On this campus, among others, we have majestic University College dating back to the 1850s. And we have the stunning Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research and the Leslie Dan Pharmacy Building, both of which opened about 150 years after University College was completed.

That said, I believe one building, above all, has a unique meaning to our alumni, regardless of faculty, college or campus of origin: Convocation Hall.

The humanities have a long and impressive history at the University of Toronto. Our founding charter called for the “education of youth in the various branches of science and literature,” although I doubt that John Strachan and the others involved in establishing the University of Toronto would have imagined that literature one day would be taught here in more than 40 languages.

Good morning members, administrators, guests and especially volunteers of the Alzheimer’s Society of Ontario.

Let me begin by saying how honoured I am to be able to address such a caring and dedicated group of individuals, working together to improve the lives of Alzheimer’s sufferers today, and towards the final goal of tomorrow which, I would argue, is not so far away as we previously feared.

I am sometimes asked what it’s like to be president of the country’s largest university. Annual revenues from all sources of $1.8B…Over 11,000 employees, and 22 unions… Three vibrant campuses…More than 700 acres of land in the Greater Toronto Region, 25 percent of it in Toronto’s downtown core… Scores of buildings, some spectacularly new, some wonderfully old…And most important of all, more than 65,000 students in every imaginable discipline…

An address to the Canadian Club of Toronto.

University Report Cards, Ratings, Rankings, and Performance Measures: President’s Statement to Governing Council.

Good afternoon and welcome to the University of Toronto and the magnificent Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research.

On Saturday, April 23, 2006, the Ottawa Citizen published the following article by President David Naylor, describing U of T’s concerns about Maclean’s magazine’s annual ranking of Canadian universities.

President David Naylor’s statement to Governing Council regarding concerns about racist and offensive incidents on campus March 23, 2006.

Freedom of expression – rights with responsibilities: President’s statement on freedom of expression on campus, February 7, 2006.

The other night on television, Prime Minister Paul Martin articulated a vision for Canada that saw our nation as the conscience of the world, to lead other countries with our commitment to equity and social responsibility. That’s an appealing vision.

Remarks delivered by Professor David Naylor, on the occasion of his installation as 15th President of the University of Toronto.

Remarks by President-designate David Naylor at the Friends of the University of Toronto Event September 14, 2005.