McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Corporate body
McGill University. Office of the Chancellor
The office of Chancellor was established by the University statutes of 1864, which ordered that the President of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning should also bear the title and perform the function of University Chancellor. The Chancellor is the titular head of the University and the presiding officer of convocation and of joint sessions of the Board of Governors and the Senate. Until 1970 the Chancellor/ President of the Royal Institution usually served as Chairman of the Board of Governors, although this arrangement was customary not statutory. In 1970 the positions of Chancellor and President of the Royal Institution were split. The Chancellor remained the ceremonial head of the University. The President of the Royal Institution usually also serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors, the latter position being concerned mainly with financial and administrative affairs. At present the Chancellor's duties include presiding over convocation and other University functions and serving as chairman of the honourary degreees committee and the committee to select a Principal.
Chancellors of McGill University
1864-1884 Charles Dewey Day
1884-1888 James Ferrier
1889-1914 Sir Donald Alexander Smith, Lord Strathcona
1914-1917 Sir William Christopher Macdonald
1918-1920 Sir Robert Laird Borden
1921-1942 Sir Edward Wentworth Beatty
1943-1946 Morris Watson Wilson
1946-1952 Orville Sievwright Tyndale
1952-1957 Bertie Charles Gardner
1957-1964 Ray Edwin Powell
1964-1970 Howard Irwin Ross
1970-1974 Donald Olding Hebb
1975 Stuart Milner Finlayson
1976-1984 Conrad Fetherstonhaugh Harrington
1984- A. Jean de Granpré