Fort Frances native Don Lovisa retired at the beginning of March after over 15 years as head of Durham College the college honoured the outgoing president by naming a building after him.
Lovisa started working in the collegiate sector with Confederation College’s Fort Frances Campus which was located in the Nanicost complex at the time he started.
“I was at Confederation College for 21-plus years before I went to Durham,” Lovisa said. “So I started my career at the campus in Fort Frances, actually at Nanicost was actually where we started and then I was part of the build with a new high school so I facilitated that and oversaw that build. I moved to Durham in 2007 to become the vice president of academics. Then the President left abruptly about 10 months into my term and I was asked to step in as president and I remained president.”
“I’ll always remember that day when the board chair called me and said ‘I’d like to meet you for breakfast in the morning’ and then he offered me the position of acting president back in 2008,” Lovisa said. “Being a new kid on the block and to be given the opportunity was pretty incredible.”
Looking back on his time as president of Durham, Lovisa has some positive memories.
“I guess I’m most proud of the work culture that we were able to create,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of expansion, a lot of new buildings. We’ve basically led the way in a lot of areas, [like] in applied research. It was 16 years of growth, excitement, innovation, collaboration and the college is in a lot better shape than it was when I took over.”
Lovisa is proud of the reputation the school was able to build during his time as well as working in the college as well as working in the post-secondary sector.
“We have a very strong brand, internationally and domestically,” he said. “And I’ve also been able to for the college system around the world. I’ve travelled the world on behalf of colleges. I’ve done advocacy at the federal, provincial and local level. It’s really one of the privileged jobs that you really get to have a true impact on the college, the community and all the people who work there and the students who study there.”
The Durham Region consists of eight communities in the Greater Toronto Area, including Oshawa, Ajax and Whitby. Lovisa says in his time there he’s become part of the community.
“There’s so many memories over 16 years,” he said. “We’ve had so much great success and made such great friends and I’ve become a part of the community, so a lot of people think I grew up in the Oshawa area, not knowing that I actually grew up in Fort Frances because I’ve just become such a part of the community. It’s a great place to live and my children are all here now as well and my grandchildren are in this area.”
In his retirement Lovisa hopes to spend more time with those grandchildren and spending a little time traveling for pleasure rather than work including a stop back in Fort Frances.
“The thing about the president’s job is basically it’s a 24/7 job, you’re out every night, you’re traveling a lot. So it’s time to travel, enjoy some hobbies that I have, enjoy my grandchildren and my brother and I, he lives in Kelowna, we’re going to do a cross-Canada motorcycle ride this summer. So I’m going to start in Kelowna with him and we’re going to do Kelowna to Charlottetown and back. So we’ll be out for a month just cruising the roads of Canada. Just having time to enjoy life. After working for 38 years it’s just kind of a bit of fun.”
Lovisa had a few surprises as the college honoured him for his retirement.
“So the first surprise was my siblings showed up at a party that I didn’t expect them to be there which was rather nice,” Lovisa said. “My brother came from BC and my sister from Fort Frances. So that was kind of fun. Then, in honor of my term, they’re going to be naming a building after me so it’ll be the Don Lovisa building right on the 401 Highway, which is kind of exciting and a bit humbling as well.”
In honour of his retirement and service to the school Durham College announced on Feb. 29 that the main building of the college’s Whitby campus will be named the Don Lovisa Building. Lovisa says that that honour was special.
“It’s such an honour to have that and to have the Lovisa name on a building that will stay there for a long, long, long time,” Lovisa said. “It’s really an honour that’s incredible. It’s hard to describe how you feel when somebody wants to do that for you, respecting the impact that I’ve had on Durham and the community around us. I’m very proud of that and I’m looking forward to the unveiling.”
In a release on Durham College’s website Gail Johnson Morris, Chair of the college’s board of governors talked about Lovisa’s impact on the school.
“President Lovisa’s leadership has been instrumental in growing the college’s impact, establishing it as a beacon of innovation and thought leadership,” said Morris. “Because of his dedication and tireless efforts, we have flourished, pushed the limits, and created a college community that is positively impacting the world around us.”
