Garnet Garven receives Distinguished Service Award

News Release Release Date: December 12, 2016 11:00 a.m.

The University of Regina’s Board of Governors will honour Garnet Garven by presenting him with the University’s Distinguished Service Award at an evening ceremony on December 12.

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to the University, served the community and significantly enhanced the development and operations of one or more of the University’s areas of endeavour. The nomination must also be strongly supported within the University community.

“Mr. Garven’s longstanding commitment to our University and the larger community embodies our University’s motto – 'As One Who Serves' – and makes him a fitting recipient of this award,” said the Board of Governors Chair, Daniel Kwochka. “Having been appointed to three five-year terms, he is one of the University’s longest serving deans and helped establish the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, and the Kenneth Levene Graduate School of Business and the Paul J. Hill School of Business.”

Garven’s 42-year association with the University includes time as a member of Senate, Alumni Association board member, student, professor and dean.

Garven came to the Faculty of Business Administration as dean from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University where he was research fellow at Canada’s National Centre for Management Research and Development. Prior to his appointment as dean, he had a successful career as a municipal and provincial public servant, including senior roles in the City of Regina’s Office of the City Manager and in Saskatchewan Executive Council. He also served seven years as chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board.

Since the awards began in 1983, 14 members of the University community have been recognized for their service. They include: Jim Ayre (1983), Cliff Blight (1984), D. T. Lowery posthumously in (1986), Don Irwin (1988),  Dorothy Pogany (1990), Jack Boan (2006), William J. Howard (2007), R. James Tomkins (2008), Donald Lee (2009), Mo Bundon (2010), Andy Glavacevic (posthumously in 2012), Harvey Mazinke and Michael Tymchak (2013) and George Maslany (2014).

BACKGROUNDER

Garnet Garven has had a long and distinguished history at the University dating back more than 40 years. His association with the University began in his student days in the Faculty of Business Administration, at which time he was elected as one of the first student representatives on the University of Regina Senate. After graduation, he maintained a close connection to the University through his involvement with the Alumni Association.

Garven became an employee of the University of Regina after serving as a Research Fellow in corporate governance at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. This followed a successful career in the municipal and provincial public services including senior roles in the City Manager’s Office, the Saskatchewan Executive Council and as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board.

Having been appointed to three five-year terms, Garven was one of the University’s longest-serving deans. He led the Faculty through a period of remarkable growth that saw unprecedented enrolment increases and expansion in the areas of research, program innovation and internationalization. One of the most visible achievements during Garven’s tenure as dean was the creation of the Kenneth Levene Graduate School of Business, and the establishment of the Paul J. Hill School of Business, including apartnership with the Richard Ivey School of Business.

In 2007, Garven took a leave of absence from the University to serve as Deputy Minister to the Premier, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Saskatchewan Public Service. Subsequently he was appointed to Canada’s Public Policy Forum as its first Senior Fellow and Head of the Western Canadian Office. He received an Honorary CMA in 2010 from the Society of Management Accountants of Saskatchewan for meritorious service to management accounting education. More recently, he was presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for leadership in Business Education and Public Policy.

Garven was appointed dean of business emeritus in 2014 where he guest teaches in the Executive MBA program and does management research and case writing at the University of Regina.

Today, most of Garven’s energy is focused on his service to a variety of boards; PSP Investments, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the Accounting Standards Board of Canada.