Presidential installation of Marie-Eve Sylvestre

I am particularly touched to be taking on these new responsibilities in the presence of my mother, Monique, my partner Joao, our daughters Emilia and Anais, my brothers Mathieu and Olivier, and my brother-in-law Gabriel, each of whom, in their own way, serve as examples of courage and perseverance.

I think of my father, Jean-Guy, who left us earlier this year. My father, whose own father was a former brother turned postal worker and whose mother worked in a factory and then at home, had an ambiguous relationship with teaching, which at the time was heavily influenced by religious tradition. In 1965, he abandoned his classical studies and hitchhiked to Vancouver. When he returned, he worked as a shoe salesman and as a dishwasher in a restaurant before returning to his studies in 1967, the year CEGEPS were created, attracted by the promise of modernity and strongly encouraged by my mother. 

It was also thanks to my mother’s financial support that he completed a bachelor’s degree in lettres françaises, two master’s degrees on a part-time basis, and the beginnings of a doctoral degree. He then dedicated the rest of his life to teaching. When I was young, my father, who knew a thing or two about motivating teenagers, would tell me that if I went on to earn a doctorate, he would finish his as well. Although he wasn’t able to hold up his end of the bargain, his ruse worked. He would certainly be very emotional today to see me become a university president.

It was through my parents’ eyes that I first learned to view the University as a place of knowledge, discussion and discovery, a transformational space that promised upward mobility, a place where dreams came true and where the future of nations was forged. This vision still guides me today.

I would also like to highlight the presence of my predecessor, Jacques Frémont, whose pluralist and inclusive vision has allowed us to reach new heights and to sign several international partnerships. Jacques always trusted me, as did former presidents Marcel Hamelin, Gilles Patry and Allan Rock, all of whom helped build this extraordinary institution that we celebrate today through this installation.

I’d also like to pay tribute to all the women who have shaped the history of the University of Ottawa and who, through their struggles and determination, paved the way for me to take on this role, including les Soeurs de la Charité, who administered the University from 1859 to 1902; Bernadette Tarte and Rita Roy, the first two women to graduate from the Faculty of Arts in 1929; Margaret Beznack, the first woman dean and member of the Board of Governors; Pauline Vanier, the first woman chancellor; Susan Mann, the first vice-president of the University, and Claudette Commanda, the first Indigenous woman chancellor. I feel hopeful today as I stand on the accomplishments made by those who came before me.I want to acknowledge my extraordinary leadership team, Jacques, Julie, Julien, Annick et Eric, including our 11 deans, and all those who supported me throughout my career—many of them are with us today—as well as all my incredible students, who have renewed my passion for research and teaching. My sincere thanks to all of you.

And finally, I’d like to sincerely thank the University staff who worked tirelessly to organize this ceremony and the entire installation week: Pierre and the Office of the President, Cassandre and her exceptional team, Stéphanie Tenasco and Catherine Légaré, the artists behind this stole, Ricky and the entire Communications team, and so many others.

I step into this role at an extraordinary moment in world history, and in the history of universities. Shifts in geopolitical alliances and a changing international order pose new threats to Canadian sovereignty, economy and democracy. Science, academic freedom and the rule of law are being undermined. Truth becomes more elusive as it is filtered through influencers lacking credentials. We are undergoing a major technological revolution with the growth of generative AI. And the world is facing a series of pressing societal challenges, including war, climate change and environmental injustice; public health crises; food insecurity; as well as growing inequalities and discrimination, playing out at both local and global scales.

In the face of such turbulent change, we must reflect on how universities respond to the challenges faced by the societies we serve. This is not new. Since the Middle Ages, universities have managed to thrive through revolutions and major upheaval by reinventing themselves and continuing to fuel individual dreams and national aspirations. We have historically been cosmopolitan spaces of experimentation and exchange. Through the creation and dissemination of knowledge, we have contributed to wellness, prosperity and social justice. We have built cities, launched careers, made (and unmade) marriages, pioneered social and technological innovations, and made sure no one was left behind. And we must continue to do so today.

In this larger story, the University of Ottawa is among the best positioned to lead meaningful change.

This is a very special place. We are a unique institution with a distinct identity, rooted in an extraordinary ecosystem.

We are the only bilingual research-intensive university in Canada, the largest French-English bilingual university in the world, and an institution open to the languages and knowledge of Indigenous peoples and the entire world. These three pillars, beautifully represented on my new stole, are not mutually exclusive. They make us stronger and allow us to provide our students and employees with an environment that is linguistically, culturally and academically open and diverse.

Our University has undergone extraordinary growth over the past two decades. It has become a major research university that shines on the international stage and that seeks to increase its influence well beyond our borders. In 2025, our researchers generated over half a billion dollars in research revenue, an increase of 50% in five years. We have moved from being one of the last to enter the prestigious U15 group of research-intensive universities to sitting at the very top of the table, ranking fourth in research intensity, third in faculty awards, second in Tri-Council funding over the past five years, and first in bioscience infrastructure funding. We are world leaders in quantum/photonics, the life sciences, AI, law, public and international affairs, languages and performing arts, as well as environmental studies, from coast to coast to coast, and to the moon!

Most importantly, we benefit from an extraordinary ecosystem from which we can drive research and innovation and open doors for our students.

Located in the heart of the national capital of a G7 country, the University of Ottawa is a place of power, leadership, and transformation—at the intersection of science, commerce and policy.

We are only steps away from Ottawa City Hall and Canada’s most important democratic institutions. We rely on a global network of embassies, world-renowned hospitals, national research agencies, a major arts corridor and a thriving business community. Our presence stretches from the downtown core to Kanata North, the country’s largest tech park, where our campus continues to grow.

The intersection of science, commerce and policy you see shining through the glass behind me, and represented in this room, gives us meaning and purpose. It drives our 50,000 students and over 6,000 faculty and staff to aim higher to spark innovation and transform society. This is our superpower!

As president, my vision is one of a university rooted in its city, engaging with its communities, and ready to take up the challenges of our society, a university that draws strength from its people, its bilingualism and the ecosystem that surrounds it to shape the future, influence public policies, drive innovation and have a transformative impact on our students, our communities and the world.

In fact, the University of Ottawa already has a long history of city and nation building. In 1856, Bytown College left Lowertown to set up shop in Sandy Hill one year before Queen Victoria designated Ottawa as Canada’s capital. In 1866, one year before Confederation, the new University of Ottawa granted its first degrees. This is a university whose faculty of medicine and health sciences was first established in the Canadian army barracks during World War II, whose founding dean of law Gérald Fauteux became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, and whose School of Music was created to support the development of the National Art Centre and the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra in the 1960s. In 2021, the University of Ottawa was the first post-secondary institution to establish a foothold in the Kanata North tech park and it is a founding member of Hub 350.

This is how, over the years, we have contributed over eight billion dollars to the economy of the National Capital Region. In just the past ten years, we have supported over 200 start-ups that have commercialized discoveries made in our faculties. Successes like Northern Nanopore Instruments, promoting nanopore potential for analyzing DNA; Eco Safe Sense, enabling the Kanata Autonomous Shuttle, as well as Yellowbird Diagnostics, developing dyes for medical imaging procedures.

Today, I pledge to Mayor Sutcliffe and the other community leaders from the Ottawa-Gatineau region who honour us with their presence, that the University of Ottawa will continue to play its vital role in building our great region. This includes addressing the challenges faced by the most marginalized populations, located not far from here in Lowertown and Vanier. As a researcher, I have dedicated my career to working with people experiencing homelessness and have defended their right to dignity and equality. As dean, I have supported the creation of an interdisciplinary social law clinic in Gatineau in order to meet the needs of marginalized people. As president, I now dream of supporting community hubs, here, in the heart of downtown, where we could offer family medicine and social services in collaboration with our partners.

The future of our University is also closely tied to that of the Franco-Ontarian community. The University of Ottawa Act was the first official document to refer to Francophone culture in Ontario. Today, the heart of our University beats to the rhythm of Franco-Ontarian aspirations and strongly champions the needs of this community. We couple this with the promise of stalwart support to Francophones in minority language settings by offering programs in French in all disciplines, from medicine to management, as well as science, law and education. The University is also an ally of those organizations that seek to defend the rights of Francophones, a responsibility that we honour and celebrate. Our Francophonie today is multifaceted and inclusive. It has established deep roots along both shores of the Ottawa River and extends throughout Quebec, Canada, Europe, Africa and beyond. This allows us to claim the title of a top national university for Francophones. Over the coming months, the University of Ottawa will continue to strengthen its leadership within the Francophonie by launching a series of consultations on life on campus and the promotion of science in French.

The University of Ottawa also has a historical duty to Indigenous Peoples, particularly the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation, who are the traditional guardians of the non-ceded territory upon which we find ourselves today. We carry significant responsibilities towards Indigenous Peoples given the historical role universities, and science in general, have played in colonization and our duty to contribute to truth and reconciliation. At the University of Ottawa, we face our past while directing our attention towards the future. As president, I’m committed to supporting and revitalizing Indigenous languages and knowledges, to create pathways for Indigenous students and scholars, and to support programs that directly benefit their communities and therefore, our country.

As we have throughout our history, we dare to cast our gaze beyond the limits of our city, to the entire country and the world. After all, our network of 300,000 alumni has gone on to very successful careers as senators and ministers, attorney generals and judges, innovators and chief scientists, prominent CEOs and entrepreneurs, award-winning journalists, astronauts, and even Jeopardy host Alex Trebek.

We claim as our own Governor General Jeanne Sauvé and Chief Justice Wagner, former Premier Dalton McGuinty, Canadian hall of fame football legend and former Gee-Gee champion turned Minister of Sports Neil Lumsden, the first Black woman elected mayor in Ontario now Senator Bernadette Clement, President of the Université du Québec Alexandre Cloutier, and countless other leaders.

We are proud to create an environment where remarkable things happen: Prime Minister Carney simply walks onto our campus to deliver an important pre-budget speech. Ambassadors and UN representatives come together to discuss peace and security. Star cardiac surgeon Marc Ruel routinely performs minimally invasive heart surgery. Award-winning CEOs like Calin Ravinescu, Norman Hébert and Kathryn Tremblay advise our faculties. And 2023 Nobel Laureate Anne L’Huillier sits down with our own Paul Corkum, the father of attosecond science, in our uOttawa–Max Planck Research Centre on quantum and photonics.

Every day, our researchers reinforce our status as Canada’s most influential university in public policies. I think of our former vice-president, Research turned Chief Science Adviser for the federal government, Mona Nemer, and her Scientist- in-Residence and leader of our Arctic Hub, Jackie Dawson. Both are uOttawa superstars, peacefully asserting the role of science and reconciliation in Arctic diplomacy and governance.

Thanks to the excellence of our social science researchers, we are hosting seminars that gather together academic, government, business and community experts. They debate the social and legal issues surrounding artificial intelligence, living conditions in cities during the Anthropocene, the health of Black populations, the modernization of the Competition Act and Canada’s strategy on rare earth minerals.

So it’s no wonder that France has decided to expand its national centre on scientific research and create a Franco-Canadian campus at the University of Ottawa to increase its partnerships with Canada. Other international partners are also choosing our university—a true gateway to North America and the world.

In the years ahead, motivated by our desire to build healthier, more prosperous and just communities, we will be doubling down on our research ambition and revitalizing our academic programs to ensure they meet the needs of a new generation of students looking to shape their own futures and to change the world.

We’re making the largest investment in our history to build the Advanced Medical Research Centre, opening next year beside our Faculty of Medicine and leading hospitals. There, we’ll speed the journey from molecular science to life-saving technologies, boost Canada’s biomanufacturing capacity, improve care and spark new compagnies that turn therapies into economic growth.

Some twenty years ago, without knowing what the future had in store for me, I started as a professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa. Today, two decades later, I find myself president, in the same room where our students celebrate their convocation ceremony each year. Like them on that day, I feel an immense sense of pride and have full confidence in the future.

When I look back at all that we’ve experienced together, I am so impressed by our ability to see big, push past our limits and change things. Together, we have transformed this university into one of the most inclusive, influential and respected institutions in Canada.

Thanks to this, and thanks to our bilingual nature and our strategic location, we attract students and researchers from over 170 countries. We have become a genuine hub of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.

When we ask ourselves how universities will respond to the greatest challenges of our times, this is what sets us apart. Our unique position gives our community the power to shape society. And we will keep tapping into that strength and talent to find the solutions the world is looking for.

Today, I invite you to be part of this journey. Together, we can accelerate discovery, nurture talent, and create lasting change. Your support, whether through ideas, partnerships, or philanthropy, will help us turn ambition into action. Join us in shaping the future of our city, of Canada and the world. We’re only getting started.

Mikwetc, merci, thank you.