December 6, 2006

The University of Northern British Columbia is conducting an electionto determine its next Chancellor.  Following a recent call fornominations, the University received two nominations for the position.Those eligible to vote will choose between the following two candidates:

Peter J.G. Bentley has been UNBC Chancellor since 2004 and is willingto serve a second, three-year term. He is the Chairman and Director ofthe Canfor Corporation and Director of its principal subsidiary,Canadian Forest Products Ltd. He has an extensive record of personalinvolvement with Boards and Foundations that advocate for education,health, sport, and economic development. He is an Officer of the Orderof Canada and he received an honorary degree from UBC in 1992. He hasalso been inducted into the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum.

More info about Peter Bentley

Alex Michalos is an Emeritus Professor of Political Science at UNBC andDirector of its Institute for Social Research and Evaluation. He haspublished 22 books, authored more than 90 academic articles, andfounded or co-founded 6 academic journals. Much of his research andteaching has focused on aspects of quality of life. He is one of onlytwo recipients of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Councilof Canada gold medal. His personal service has included membership onlocal, provincial, national, and international bodies that have aimedto improve people’s lives.

More info about Alex Michalos

The Chancellor is the ceremonial head of the University, conferring alldegrees, acting as a senior representative of the University, anddistinguishing the University by his/her reputation as an outstandingleader in British Columbia and in Canada. The Chancellor is also amember of both the UNBC Board of Governors and Senate. It is anhonorary and unpaid position. Chancellors are elected for three-yearterms and the number of terms per individual is limited to two. PeterBentley is completing his first term.

Those eligible to vote in the election include alumni, faculty, membersof the UNBC Senate, and some founders. Ballots are being sent this weekand completed ballots must be returned to University by January 12.

Contact:
Charlene Myers or Allyson Truant, University Secretariat, UNBC - 250.960.5795 or250.960.6306
Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC – 250.960.5622 

PETER J.G. BENTLEY, O.C., LL.D.

Peter J.G. Bentley is Chairman and a Director of Canfor Corporation anda Director of its principal subsidiary, Canadian Forest ProductsLtd.  After working in various positions through Canfor, Mr.Bentley became Executive Vice President in 1970, President in 1975, andChairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1985, a position that he helduntil April 24, 1995.  He is a Director of Canfor Pulp HoldingsInc., Co-Chairman and a Director of Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Limited,and Chairman and President of Sierra Mountain Minerals Inc.

On May 28, 2004, he was installed as Chancellor of The University of Northern British Columbia.

An active volunteer in community organizations, he currently serves onthe Vancouver Police Foundation Board, a Trustee and Chairman Emeritusof the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, a Governor of the CanadianOlympic Foundation, a Director of the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation,a Director of Junior Achievement of Canada and a Cabinet Member of theBusiness Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame

Mr. Bentley is a member of the Board of the Canadian Institute forAdvanced Research, a member of Canada’s Outstanding CEO of the YearAdvisory Board, and a member of the Advisory Board of BuildDirect.com. 

He served for over 20 years as a Director of the Bank of Montreal andShell Canada Ltd., and on the International Advisory Council of theJPMorgan Chase Bank Corporation of New York.  He is a past memberof the Canadian Advisory Board of The Carlyle Group, past Vice-Chairmanof the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, a past Chairman of theBusiness Council of British Columbia, a Honourary Life member of ForestEducation British Columbia, and a Honourary Director of the CanadianProfessional Golf Association.  He also served on the AdvisoryCouncil of the Sauder School of Business of the University of BritishColumbia and is now appointed the position of Distinguished UniversityFellow at the Sauder School of Business.  He is a past Boardmember for the Banff Centre, past Chairman of York House School andformer Governor of St. George’s School.

Mr. Bentley was educated at St. George’s School, Vancouver, the Facultyof Forestry of the University of British Columbia, and the Banff Schoolof Advanced Management.

In 1983, he was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada.  In1992, he received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Universityof British Columbia.  In 1999, he received the W.A.C. BennettAward at the time of his induction into the British Columbia SportsHall of Fame and Museum where he also served as past Chairman andDirector.  In October 2004 he was inducted into the “Wall of Fame”at the Fraser River Discovery Centre.

Peter Bentley is married and has five children and fifteen grandchildren.



ALEX C. MICHALOS, B.A., M.A., B.D., Ph.D., D. Litt.

Alex Michalos is Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Directorof the Institute for Social Research and Evaluation at the Universityof Northern British Columbia.  He has published 22 books and over90 refereed articles, and founded or co-founded 6 scholarlyjournals.  His work has been translated into Japanese, Chinese,German, Polish, French, Italian and Spanish.  Most of hisscholarly work, consulting and teaching may be divided into three broadfields: logic and philosophy of science, social indicators or qualityof life research, and business ethics. The common thread runningthrough his work has been the search for knowledge that can be appliedto improve the quality of people’s lives.

Dr. Michalos was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in1993, and President of Academy 2 (Social Sciences and Humanities) in2000.  Since then he has served the Society actively andextensively.  He was a founding member of the Canadian Rural andRemote Health Association (past president) and is the current Presidentof the Prince George Community Planning Council.  During hisPresidency, the Community Planning Council produced the first SocialPlan for the City of Prince George in 2003, which now serves as aframework strategic plan along with the city’s Official Community Plan.Only 3 or 4 cities in British Columbia have Social Plans.  Under his leadership, the Prince George Community Partners AddressingHomelessness have distributed $3.2 million to local service agencies.

In 1996 Dr. Michalos chaired an ad hoc steering group that created theLearning Difficulties Action Centre of Northern BC, which continues toserve as a regional testing and referring centre, and as a clearinghouse for information and services for people with learningdisabilities. In the same year, he brought together a group ofcommunity partners including the University of Northern BritishColumbia, City of Prince George, Northern Interior Regional HealthBoard, Fraser-Fort George Regional Council, Human Resources DevelopmentCanada and the United Way of Prince George to talk about building asurvey research centre at UNBC. The following year, the Institute forSocial Research and Evaluation (ISRE) was opened at the university,funded by the community partners with Dr. Michalos as the Director, aposition he still occupies.

He is the Chair of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s SectoralCommission on Natural, Social and Human Sciences, and past President ofthe International Society for Quality of Life Studies. Dr. Michalos haswon many awards of distinction, including:

•    The Gold Medal for Achievement in Research (2004)from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (theCouncil’s highest honour),
•    An award for the Betterment of the Human Condition(2003) from the International Society for Quality of Life Studies,
•    The Vincentian Ethics Scholar Award (2002) by the Vincentian Universities of the USA
•     An award for Extraordinary Contributions toQuality of Life Research (1996) from the International Society forQuality of Life Studies
•    The Secretary of State’s Prize for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research in Canadian Studies (1984).
•    The British Columbia Political Science Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2005)
•    An Honorary Doctor of Letters from Thompson Rivers University, B.C. (2005)
•    The Deryck Thompson Award for Community SocialPlanning (2006) from the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C.

Dr. Michalos is married, and has three children and two grandchildren.