Association of Canadian Community Colleges honours Dr. Gary Polonsky with Distinguished Service Award
June 5, 2006
OSHAWA, Ont. - The Association of Community Colleges (ACCC) honoured Dr. Gary Polonsky, former president of Durham College (DC), and president of UOIT with the College Presidents' Network's Distinguished Service Award 2006.
The award was presented to Dr. Polonsky at the Presidents' Luncheon held during this year's annual conference in Calgary, Alberta last week. This award is presented to members of ACCC who have contributed to the development of the college system in Canada through exceptional service resulting in a significant impact at both the regional and national level over time.
"If you know Gary Polonsky, you understand he is a visionary, an advocate and an exemplary leader. Through this award Gary's peers go further in acknowledging him as a mentor of other leaders, someone who always works tirelessly for students and someone, for his entire career, who has made things happen in the college movement throughout Canada. Gary is truly a distinguished leader amongst leaders, someone whose impact will be long lasting," said MaryLynn West-Moynes, president of Mohawk College in Hamilton, and former chief operating officer of Durham College, and vice-president of Communications and Marketing for both DC and UOIT.
Under Dr. Polonsky's 18 years at the helm, Durham College's enrolment doubled and he oversaw the creation of the Whitby Skills Training Centre; the Integrated Manufacturing Centre in Oshawa; the construction of three residences and a student centre; and, the expansion of the college into Pickering, Uxbridge, Beaverton, Port Hope and Port Perry.
Dr. Polonsky began his post-secondary career more than four decades ago as a teacher at Confederation College in his home town of Thunder Bay. He also served as assistant chairman and chairman of the college, and he helped build a strong and credible adult training school and then integrated the Adult Education Centre with the college. Here he championed the creation of the trades training department which exceeded 2,000 students annually. He also worked with a team of community members to create the Thunder Bay community auditorium.
In the early '80s, he served as vice-president, Program Development for Lakeland College in Lloydminster, Alberta where he helped to create a system of regional campuses in communities of over 2,000 people increasing the number of students from 5,000 to 25,000.
Before leading Durham College, Dr. Polonsky was president of Red River Community College in Winnipeg, Manitoba where he opened three new regional extension centres in Portage la Prairie, Winkler and Selkirk.
At the college level, he spearheaded the formation of the Ontario College Application System, and he helped to establish CON*NECT to provide business, industry and government with a convenient, seamless, single point of access to the business-to-business training resources of the colleges.
During his 43-year career in education, Dr. Polonsky has received numerous awards and distinctions for his outstanding contributions to providing the highest quality education for Ontarians. The Rotary Club awarded him the Paul Harris Fellow, the highest recognition one can receive from Rotary for community commitment; the Oshawa Chamber of Commerce honoured him in 2001 as Business Person of the Year, and the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance presented him with the GTA International Business Ambassador Leadership Award in 2002. In 2005, Dr. Polonsky was appointed an honorary member of The Engineering Institute of Canada, and he received the 2005 Royal Architecture Institute of Canada Advocate for Architecture Award of Excellence, and he was named the Ajax-Pickering Business Person of the Year.
A firm believer in lifelong learning, he holds a BSc from Lakehead University and an MA from Gonzaga University in Washington. In 2001, he earned a Doctorate in Higher Education from the University of Toronto.
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Media contact
Heather Middleton
Communications and Marketing
Ontario Tech University
905.721.3111 ext. 2197
heather.middleton@dc-uoit.ca
