Donald W. McNaughton, LLD 07, a successful business executive, tireless and long-time Concordia volunteer and former chair of Concordia’s Board of Governors, passed away on November 27 at the age of 87.
Flags on both campuses will be flown at half-mast on Monday, December 2, the day of the funeral.
“Don showed an almost unparalleled commitment to the university,” says Board of Governors chair Norman Hébert, Jr. “He gave so much of his time as chair and a board member, as well as to many other committees, because he believed so passionately in the value of university education and, especially, Concordia.”
McNaughton was “larger than life, a leader, and a symbol of the greatness that is destined for our growing university,” said Terry Fancott, a fellow former Board member, in his citation for McNaughton when he received an honorary doctorate from Concordia in 2007.
As a young student in the 1940s at Loyola College, one of Concordia’s founding institutions, McNaughton began showing his leadership abilities as advertising and business manager at the Loyola News student newspaper. After Loyola, he turned his practical training and boundless energy toward a successful marketing career.
In 1963, McNaughton joined Schenley Canada Distillery as director of advertising, and quickly moved up the ranks. He was named president of the company in 1969 and CEO three years later. While at Schenley, McNaughton devoted considerable time to the Canadian Football League’s Schenley Awards, and was inducted into the CFL’s Hall of Fame as a builder in 1994.
Despite his early success and extremely busy professional life, McNaughton never forgot about his alma mater. As a member of Loyola’s Board of Trustees in 1971, he was recruited to join the committee that negotiated the merger between Loyola and Sir George Williams University. This wasn’t surprising, Fancott said, given that McNaughton was earning a reputation as a “unifying voice in academia.”
He joined Concordia’s Board of Governors in 1974 and served as chair between 1981 and 1987. “Mr. McNaughton distinguished himself by his outstanding diplomacy and wisdom, and soon won us over by his reassuring presence and his kind response to our concerns,” Fancott said.
After retiring from the Board of Governors in 1999, McNaughton was named Governor Emeritus.
He held numerous other volunteer positions throughout his long association with the university. From 1983 to 1988, he was volunteer chair of the Capital Campaign Stewardship Committee. Among other roles, he was a charter member of the Rector’s Circle, director of the Loyola Foundation, member of the Advancement Committee of the Board of Governors, president and director of the Loyola Alumni Association, and member of the Loyola Medal Committee.
In 1991, McNaughton received the Loyola Medal, one of the university’s highest honours, for his outstanding leadership and contribution to society. In 2005, he won the Concordia Alumni Association’s Humberto Santos Award of Merit for his exceptional service to the university and to the community.
The name of the man who gave so much to Concordia lives on in the Donald W. McNaughton Fund for Theological Studies. Created in 2004 by McNaughton and his wife, Erin, the fund helps offset the costs of a chosen student’s pastoral activities, which may include prison visits and spiritual advising to the elderly.
A funeral service in memory of Donald W. McNaughton will take place on Monday, December 2, at 10 a.m. at the Ascension of Our Lord Church, 375 Kitchener Ave., Westmount. Visitation will be held on Sunday, December 1, at the Kane Fetterly Funeral Home, 5301 Decarie Blvd. Condolences may be sent through Kane and Fetterly’s website.