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A tribute to Arthur Kroeger (1932-2008)
Carleton University marks with sadness the death of Arthur Kroeger, its seventh Chancellor and a remarkably kind soul who cared deeply for the university and its students.
Known as the “Dean of Deputy Ministers,” Arthur Kroeger was a public servant of singular distinction, having held the post of deputy minister for six federal ministries from 1975 until 1992. He was the university's Chancellor from 1993 to 2002, following which he was named Chancellor Emeritus.
"Arthur was a legendary figure at Carleton University who will be sadly missed by our entire community, and by all who had the honour to know him and to work closely with him," said Samy Mahmoud, Carleton's President and Vice-Chancellor pro tempore . "He was a devoted public servant and a role model to many of us here at the university. He was an exceptional man in terms of his wealth of knowledge, commitment to education and devotion to humanity. It was natural for him to lead by example."
In 1999, the university created the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs in his name. The College administers the Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management, which seeks to educate students according to the example he set.
"Arthur was not simply the namesake of the College," said Christopher Dornan, the College's director, "he was its animating spirit from the beginning. He was involved in all aspects of College life and wanted only the best for the students, drawing on his experience, his expertise and his astonishing network of friends and colleagues for their benefit."
Born into a Mennonite farming family in Alberta in 1932, Mr. Kroeger was raised during the deprivations of the Great Depression, and documented his family's history in his memoir Hard Passage: A Mennonite Family's Long Journey from Russia to Canada (University of Alberta Press, 2007).
He took his B.A. in 1955 at the University of Alberta and then taught at St. John's-Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg before going on to the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
In 1958 he joined the federal Department of External Affairs and served in Geneva, New Delhi, Washington and Ottawa. His appointments as deputy minister included: Indian and Northern Affairs (1975-1977), Transport Canada (1979-1983), Regional Industrial Expansion (1985-1986), Energy, Mines and Resources (1986-1988), and Employment and Immigration Canada (1988-1992). He received the Public Service Outstanding Achievement Award in 1989.
He retired from public service in 1992, but remained as engaged and energetic as ever. In addition to serving as an active and activist Chancellor of Carleton University, from 1993 to 1994 he was a visiting professor at the University of Toronto, and from 1993 to 1999 he was a visiting fellow at Queen's University. He was Chair of the Public Policy Forum from 1992 to 1994, and Chair of the Canadian Policy Research Networks from 1999 to 2006.
He also presided over what became known as the Kroeger Round Table at Ottawa's Rideau Club, in which a circle of his friends – including figures such as trade negotiator Simon Reisman and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Beverley McLachlin – would gather over lunch to hear from and question an invited guest.
He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1989 and was promoted to Companion in 2000. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Western Ontario, the University of Calgary, the University of Alberta and Carleton University. In 2000, he was elected an Honorary Fellow Pembroke College, Oxford.
In 1957, while at Oxford, he met Gay (Gabrielle) Sellers, a fellow Canadian student. She also joined the Foreign Service, and they married in 1966. Together they had two daughters, Alix (Nina Alexandra) and Kate Megan Jane. Gay Kroeger died in 1979.
In later years, he formed a life companionship with Huguette Labelle, the Chancellor of the University of Ottawa.
When he died Friday evening, May 9, at Ottawa's Centre Elisabeth-Bruyere, he was attended by his daughters, Ms. Labelle, and his stepdaughter Chantal Labelle.
Mr. Kroeger's second book, about the controversial reform of Western grain transportation (the Crow's Nest Pass rate), will be published by the University of Alberta Press next year.
Richard Van Loon was president of Carleton University throughout much of Mr. Kroeger's Chancellorship."Arthur was a true friend of Carleton and of all its students," he said. "His calm presence helped see the university through a difficult period in the late ‘90s and his wise advice was important to me and all the senior administration as Carleton renewed itself. Like all those who knew Arthur, I have the greatest respect for him as a scholar in his own right, a consummate public servant and as a great human being."
"Arthur served Carleton University and the College with his legendary energy and his humanity," said Eileen Saunders, the founding director of the Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs, "and he enriched us with his friendship. His accomplishments were matched only by his humility; I recall how completely tongue-tied he became when we asked his permission to name the College after him. But of all the decisions we had to make in launching the College, honouring Arthur Kroeger was the easiest."
Carleton University and his daughters will honour his memory through the creation of the Arthur Kroeger Memorial Award. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that donations be made to the scholarship fund in his name.
