Ivor Boyagoda's Email

The above is how I remember Ivor Boyagoda and the last that I saw of him when he signed my Grade 13 yearbook. Ivor was one of my favourite teachers (I had a list of cool and respected and he was on that list).  He taught what I thought was a cool subject, chemistry, and it was my pleasure to have him teach me for more than one year. I also got fabulous marks in his class.

Ivor sent me an email a couple of days ago. In that email, he sent notice of his son Randy's promotion at the University of Toronto (the notice is in the post below this one). The thought struck me that Ivor as a young man, looks more hip than his son.  Here is his email to me:

Hi Ken

Thank  you so much for  on line Dwyer alumni news/ history etc

Your work brings back fond memories of 60's 70' 80's , OCHS ,  ... the way we were.

One of the most memorable events at Oshawa Catholic High school  ( there are  many of them ) was going fishing during grade 13 last period  Chem class  to Wilmont creek with , Italo Labignan, John Crease , Marg Fitzpatrick, Serge Dupont ( ? )etc.  I phoned Shirley Smegal,  at the front office and said we are going  fishing and  that was it , no red tape etc

You mentioned University of Ottawa( i was not a student there  ) , It reminds me of my work as a chemistry lab instructor in 1967 ( Dr Conway's class ).

i know that you were a university  student there in the 80 's  ( year ?  )

My son Randy Boyagoda , former Dwyer student just got a promotion at U of T ,  asst : dean ( please see  attachment ) 

I thought i would  share this with you in case you consider this is an outstanding achievement of  a former Dwyer  student........ to include in Dwyer alumni news letter 

Thank You 

Ivor

You are welcome Ivor. I thanked you privately for your influence on my career, and I thank you publicly.

Noted Dwyer Alumnus Randy Boyagoda Now Vice Dean U of T

Ivor Boyagoda was an icon at OCHS and Dwyer. He sends along this news of his son Randy's recent achievement. Randy is a graduate of Dwyer. Randy is married,  lives in Toronto with his wife Anna , and has  4 kids  ages 4 to 14 years. Ivor's email is in the post preceding this one:

From:

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Faculty of Arts & Science

Council of Chairs, Principals and Academic Directors
Coalition of Arts & Science Directors

Melanie Woodin, Dean

Re:

Appointment of Professor Randy Boyagoda as Vice-Dean, Undergraduate


I am pleased to announce that Professor Randy Boyagoda has been appointed to a five-year term as Vice-Dean, Undergraduate effective July 1, 2020. I would like to thank Professor Nicholas Rule who is serving as Interim Vice-Dean, Undergraduate from January 1 to June 30, 2020.

Professor Boyagoda completed his PhD at Boston University in 2005 and took up a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Notre Dame. In 2006, Professor Boyagoda joined the English Department at Ryerson University, where he was promoted to the rank of Professor and also served as Chair. He was the founding Director of Zone Learning at Ryerson from 2013-16. In 2016, Professor Boyagoda joined the University of Toronto as a Professor in the Department of English, the Basilian Chair in Christianity, Arts and Letters at the University of St. Michael’s College, and as Principal and Vice-President of the University of St. Michael’s College. Under his leadership, the College has renewed its sponsored programs and first-year seminars, and also pursued broader initiatives focused on student wellness, undergraduate research opportunities, and international and experiential learning. 

Throughout his work as a professor and university leader, Professor Boyagoda has pursued a career as a novelist, critic, and essayist. He is the author of an academic monograph and a critical biography, and of three novels, including most recently Original Prin, the first in a trilogy. His work has been supported by SSHRC and the Canada Council for the Arts, and has been nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize, in addition to being named a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice (2012 and 2019) and Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year (2018). Professor Boyagoda regularly writes essays and reviews on subjects ranging from race and family life to faith and fiction, literary politics, religion and modernity, and the ethics of technology. More broadly, across his teaching and writing, he explores the stakes, possibilities, and perils of human dignity and flourishing in an age of conflict and confusion. Professor Boyagoda has written for publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times (UK), Globe and Mail, Guardian, Harper’s, New Statesman, Chronicle of Higher Education, First Things, the Paris Review, The Walrus, and The Atlantic, and is a regular presence on CBC Radio, where he is a columnist for The Next Chapter. He also co-produces, writes, and presents the Toronto Public Library podcast Writers Off the Page. Professor Boyagoda’s next novel, Dante’s Indiana, will be published in 2021. It began as a research project with the Scholars-in-Residence program at the Jackman Humanities Institute.

From 2015 to 2017, Professor Boyagoda was President of PEN Canada, a non-governmental organization committed to celebrating literature, defending freedom of expression, and aiding writers in peril. He currently chairs the PEN Canada Advisory Board.

Please join me in welcoming Professor Boyagoda to his new position.