Gina Cody named co-chancellor, joins Jonathan Wener in role
A two-time graduate and long-time champion of Concordia University has just been named its co-chancellor.
Gina Cody, MEng 81, PhD 89, a building engineer and philanthropist, will step up from her position as deputy chancellor to assume the role on May 1.
Cody will serve in this new position alongside alumnus Jonathan Wener, BComm 71. Wener has served as deputy, then full chancellor since 2015.
The two alumni will share the honorary position as co-chancellors through December 31, 2024, when Wener’s mandate will end.
Cody will then commence a three-year term as chancellor through the end of 2027.
The announcement comes five years after Cody’s landmark $15-million gift toward her alma mater’s Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, which was renamed the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science in her honour in 2018.
“Gina Cody’s successes and honours speak to a career and life of hard work and great integrity,” says Concordia President Graham Carr. “Gina exudes pride in Concordia, is a wonderful inspiration to our community and a tireless champion for our university. We’re honoured that she will serve as co-chancellor.”
Jonathan Wener, a real-estate developer who continues as the university’s chancellor, says he is pleased to be joined by another steadfast Concordia supporter.
“Gina is a great advocate of Concordia,” Wener says. “Her career in engineering and philanthropy have been groundbreaking. She is a great example for our students and our fellow alumni. I am overjoyed to see her involvement deepen as co-chancellor.”
Helen Antoniou, chair of Concordia’s Board of Governors, adds: “I had the pleasure of getting to know Gina as a governor. She is straightforward, constructive and 100 per cent dedicated to Concordia. Her appointment as co-chancellor honours one of our greatest ambassadors and strengthens the diversity of voices at our university just as we mark an important milestone this fall — 50 years since Sir George Williams University and Loyola College joined forces to become Concordia University.”
For her part, Gina Cody says: “Concordia really set me on my path and changed my life. I immediately felt very welcome here, I received an incredible education, and I met my husband. I’m extremely proud to call myself a Concordian and honoured to be asked to serve my alma mater in this new capacity.”
