Fred Fountain is a name that Dalhousie knows well. His family name adorns one of the houses Halifax’s Howe Hall residence, as well as Dalhousie’s School of Performing Arts. His family is a generous donor to the university, and the donation to establish the Fountain School is the largest in the history of Dal’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
And, for the past seven years, Fred Fountain has served as Dalhousie’s chancellor. During that time he's spoken at dozens of events, attended every honorary degree recipient dinner, overseen more than 100 convocation ceremonies and has shaken hands with more than 27,000 Dalhousie graduates.
His time as chancellor is now winding to a close; the Honourable A. Anne McLellan will be installed as Dalhousie’s seventh chancellor on May 25. On April 28, the Dal university community hosted an event to thank Dr. Fountain for his service.
When asked what the best part of being chancellor had been, Dr. Fountain responded unequivocally: it was the students. He spoke of meeting so many students and doing his part to make their big moments (like graduation) feel meaningful in any small way he could. “Students are really the key,” he emphasized.
Lawrence Stordy, chair of Dalhousie’s Board of Governors and Jim Spatz, Mr. Stordy’s predecessor in the role, gave a rousing speech on Dr. Fountain’s many accomplishments and included a comical but touching poem in his honour.
The Dalhousie Fountain of Youth Jazz Orchestra performed to great applause and with a surprise guest: vocalist and future Berklee College of Music student Katharine Fountain, the daughter of the evening’s honouree. She kept her rehearsals a secret from her family for two full months in order to maintain the surprise.
The final surprise of the evening was a beautiful piece of artwork commissioned in honour of Dr. Fountain and his time as chancellor. The piece, entitled The Growing Mind, is a glass sculpture created by artist Jessie Tesselman.
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