As MacEwan University celebrates its 50th Anniversary, we’re reaching out to members of our community like John Ramsey, who spent 10 years as chair of the MacEwan Foundation Board and six years as chair of the Grant MacEwan Community College Board of Governors. In this photo, John Ramsey (front row, centre) poses with the 1995/96 members of the board.

I got involved with MacEwan because of my neighbours, Terry Flannigan and Chuck Day. One day Terry, who was the executive director of the Grant MacEwan Foundation, asked me how I felt about philanthropy. 

When I asked him what he meant he said, “Do you feel it’s important for people who have money to support educational institutions?”

My answer was, “Of course!” So he went on to tell me about the college’s foundation and how he wanted me to be a part of it. I was really busy at the time, so I declined to join the board but agreed to attend a meeting to see what it was like. At that first meeting at the Jasper Place campus, I was elected chairman based on a motion from the floor. 

Even though it was never really my intention, I was chair of the MacEwan Foundation for 10 years, followed by six years as chair of the then-college’s Board of Governors. We dealt with many challenging things during that time – funding cuts, the many ups and downs that came with building City Centre Campus, building a new governance model and so much more. But what stands out to me most when I think back are the people. We had very good people. 

I recently wrote a book, called Game Changers, about my life and experiences. During the years I spent working and volunteering in the community, education, health and business sectors, I’ve met many people who significantly influenced the world in which they live and work. 

MacEwan was certainly one of those places. We had great instructors, great non-academic staff and great board members. It was a terrific team. We really were working together to create a system that was of benefit to students. And it was the people who really made the difference.

–John Ramsey

John Ramsey spent 10 years as chair of the MacEwan Foundation Board and six years as chair of the Grant MacEwan Community College Board of Governors. He retired in 1995.