2021 UVic Order of Canada appointments

Renowned performing arts expert Jacques Lemay, an adjunct professor in the University of Victoria’s Department of Theatre and David Zussman, a devoted public sector leader and the chair of UVic’s Board of Governors, are among 135 new appointments to the Order of Canada announced on Wednesday by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada. Alumna Janis Dunning is honoured alongside Lemay.

Verena Tunnicliffe, professor emeritus within UVic's biology and earth and ocean sciences departments, is named an officer for outstanding contributions to ocean sciences and for being a pioneer in the scientific exploration of the deep sea.

Read the press release from the Governor General.

Creative force

Lemay is appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for his outstanding contributions to our nation’s performing arts. A celebrated producer, director, choreographer and educator, Lemay’s career ranges from working with the Charlottetown Festival and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to directing the Olympics and Victoria Commonwealth Games opening ceremonies, as well as six Royal visits. A Queen’s Jubilee medal recipient, he has served as a consultant for the Canada Council for the Arts and several provincial and territorial arts councils.

“My love of the performing arts and professional career began in my late teens, dancing with Les Feux-Follets during a life-changing tour across Canada. The beauty of the land, the resilience of its peoples and our rich cultural diversity have been my teacher and my inspiration for over 50 years, and continue to be my guiding light,” says Lemay.

Lemay and wife Janis Dunning, a UVic alumna in Continuing Studies, business administration, and creator of national events and television series, co-founded the Canadian College of Performing Arts. On Wednesday, Dunning was also named a member.

Public sector leader

Zussman is appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for a long and distinguished career in academia, government and the not-for-profit sector. In academia, he held the prestigious Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management at the University of Ottawa and served as dean of the Telfer Faculty of Management and director of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at that university. He is the author and co-author of many book chapters, peer-reviewed articles, publications and a number of books, including Off and Running: The Prospects and Pitfalls of Government Transitions in Canada, Alternate Service Delivery: Sharing Governance in Canada and The Vertical Solitude: Managing in the Public Service.

Zussman is also president emeritus of the Public Policy Forum, chair of the audit committee of Environment and Climate Change Canada, and an adjunct professor in UVic’s School of Public Administration. He has served as board chair for the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports and was a member of the boards of directors of Imagine Canada, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada, the Parliamentary Centre, the Institute for Research on Public Policy, the Public Policy Forum, Ashbury College and The Canadian Ditchley Foundation.

“I’ve devoted my professional life to finding ways to improve leadership in government and in post-secondary institutions and other communities. The University of Victoria has a vital role to play in developing tomorrow’s leaders and I am delighted to be a part of the work of this excellent institution. I am honoured to be appointed a Member of the Order of Canada and I look forward to my continued involvement with UVic.”

Since its creation in 1967, more than 7,500 trailblazers from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order of Canada, whose motto is: Desiderantes meliorem patrium, or “They desire a better country.”