Frits Pannekoek (born 1947) served as president of

Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...

from 2005 to 2014. From 1998 to 2005 he was Director of Information Resources and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Communication and Culture,

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

. Prior to taking that position, he was director of Director of Historic Sites (1979 to 1998). Graduating from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

in 1969 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(Hons) and the Governor General’s Gold Medal, Pannekoek went on to get his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

from the same institution. This was followed by a doctorate in 1974 from

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

with a dissertation on Western Canadian history and Indigenous people. From 2008 to 2012 he served as president of the International Council for Open and Distance Education, and in 2014 was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of South Africa for his service to open and distance learning. In 2015 he was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence for community service, his work in heritage preservation and in distance learning. As President of Athabasca University, he undertook several key projects for which he had secured funds starting in 2007. In August 2011, the Premier opened the 53,800 sq. foot Academic Research Centre funded by a 2007 $30 million grant from Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology. It was the first major new building on campus since the main building had been built decades earlier. That same year the University completed a two-year $7.65 million project to modernize its learning management systems, and an $8.45 million project to double the size of its science labs. Both were funded by the Government of Canada’s Knowledge Infrastructure Program, the Province of Alberta and internals sources.Open Fall/Winter, A Magazine for the Athabasca University community, 2011, p. 6 https://www.athabascau.ca/aboutau/media/publications/ Retrieved 8 July, 2020. In 2008 he also initiated the University’s first fund raising campaign Open Our World, which successfully concluded in 2015 exceeding its $30 million target. He continues to work with Indigenous postsecondary institutions and organization including Athabasca University, and with several colleagues and institutions on new ways of online learning, particularly MOOCs.

References

1947 births 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian university and college chief executives Dutch emigrants to Canada Living people Members of the Alberta Order of Excellence Presidents of Athabasca University Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Alberta alumni {{Canada-historian-stub

See also

References