It's a “great honour” and a “great responsibility” to be named the next director of the McEwen School of Architecture, said David Fortin.
The school announced June 8 that Fortin will become the school's next director, effective Jan. 1 of next year.
Fortin, who's been a professor with the school since it opened in 2013, is the successor to Terrance Galvin, the school's founding director.
Under the terms of the faculty agreement, school directors and department chairs can only serve two three-year terms, meaning Galvin can't continue in his current role.
Galvin will remain with the McEwen School of Architecture as a professor after his term ends on Dec. 31 of this year.
“I think it's just a great honour to continue what we've been doing here and to build on the program that Terrance our current director founded,” said Fortin.
“It's just an honour to be recognized by my colleagues and a big responsibility to make sure we're moving forward in the right direction with the school.”
Fortin said he has “nothing but respect” for Galvin, who has been leading the architecture school project since long before it had a building or any students.
“Terrance has really played a visionary role in the school,” he said.
He said his focus in his first term as the school's director will be to ensure the graduate school gets up and running — the school's charter class enters the graduate phase of their training this fall.
He also needs to ensure the school receives its accreditation, something which will likely happen by 2020.
Fortin was recently named the assistant director of Laurentian University's new Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute.
The institute brings together researchers pursuing work that embraces Indigenous worldviews, while promoting a de-colonizing approach to research and focusing on the needs and voices of Indigenous peoples and communities.
Asked if he plans to continue in this role, Fortin said he hopes to stay with the institute, although he hasn't discussed this much yet.
Born in Calgary, Alta. and raised in Price Albert, Sask., Fortin is proud of his Métis heritage. He'll be the first person of indigenous heritage to lead a Canadian architecture school.
“There's only 15 registered Indigenous architects in the country, and I'm one of them,” Fortin said.
“I think there's a recognition that Indigenous architects have a role in terms of our future in Canada, and the kinds of places we build. We've been really highly underrepresented, and this is a really optimistic time for us moving forward.”
