September 23, 2005 Source: Royal Roads University:
http://www.royalroads.ca/about-rru/the-university/news-events/news-releases/2005/RRU+Foundation+Chair.htm RRU Foundation Chair Ottawa-based business leader and philanthropist Frank O’Dea will chair the first board of directors for the Royal Roads University Foundation, the RRU board of governors announced today. O’Dea, who speaks candidly of his youth as a street kid in Toronto, is the co-founder of The Second Cup coffee chain and the ProShred document security franchise. A recipient of the Order of Canada, he has also helped found Street Kids International, War Child (Canada), The Canadian Landmine Foundation, and an airline to transport people in need of special medical treatment. In May, he received an honorary doctorate from Royal Roads. “Frank O’Dea’s outstanding record as a philanthropist and a business leader make him the ideal choice to head the newly created board of the RRU Foundation,” said Robert Skene, chairman of the RRU board of governors. “He is a powerful advocate of our vision of corporate and community leadership and is well positioned to recruit a national board that can achieve the distinctive mandate of this foundation.” To date, the university’s board of governors has also served as the foundation’s board of directors but Skene says the foundation is poised for substantial growth to match that of the university and requires a separate board to focus on the demands not only of scholarship and capital campaigns but those of the university’s heritage fund as well. The only university in Canada to be located in a national heritage site (Hatley Park National Heritage Site), Royal Roads is committed to maintaining and restoring the many heritage assets of the Edwardian estate – a task that is estimated to require at least $9.5 million over the next decade. “My skills are with start-ups and creating vision for new organizations,” said O’Dea. “To help a young university and an even younger foundation – what an opportunity!” O’Dea will be recruiting board members for the foundation from across Canada and eventually from around the world. A core group of board members is expected to be in place before Christmas, with a full slate expected by late spring. -30- For media queries, contact: Communication Manager, Stephanie Slater stephanie.slater@royalroads.ca 250.391.2712, cel 250.361.5020 or Communications Officer, Phil Saunders phil.saunders@royalroads.ca 250.391.2526, cel 250.812.5065
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