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Jack Matthews Fellowship - Past Lectures

The Jack Matthews Fellowship: A Legacy of Connection

Jack Matthews’ story begins with a bold vision: the mentors, collaborators, and shared spaces that continue to shape generations of global citizens.

The Jack Matthews Fellowship was created in 2008 to honour the founding contributions former Headmaster Jack Matthews made to Lakefield College School, Trent University and The Canadian Canoe Museum. The Fellowship has brought together our three institutions and the resulting collaboration has benefitted our diverse communities and varying missions. The legacy of Jack Matthews’ extraordinary vision and leadership allows us to continue to grow and learn as global citizens in a uniquely Canadian way.

Previous Fellows

2026 — Edward Burtynsky

World-renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky creates stunning photos that explore large-scale social, political, and economic issues, including water, oil, and the upheaval caused by rapid industrialization and climate change.

2024 — Victoria Grant

Victoria Grant is of the Loon Clan, Teme-Augama Anishnabai, and a member of the Temagami First Nation. Victoria, President and owner of Moving Red Canoe, operates a unique professional services firm focused on Aboriginal affairs. She is an avid volunteer and a passionate voice for a more robust Aboriginal presence within the philanthropic world. Victoria is Past Chair of Community Foundations of Canada and Past Chair of The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, and a past member of the Advisory Committee of the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award.

2024 — Marie Wilson

Internationally-respected journalist and celebrated voice of reconciliation, Marie Wilson, joined us as the 2024 Jack Matthews Fellow at the new Canadian Canoe Museum. After 35 years as an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and pioneer of Northern Canada's first daily television news service, Marie Wilson served as one of three commissioners of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. In her new book "North of Nowhere, Song of a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner," Marie guides readers through her years witnessing survivor testimony across the country, providing her unique perspective on the personal toll and enduring public value of the commission.

2023 — Duncan McCue '88

Award-winning broadcaster and educator Duncan McCue '88 is a Professor of Indigenous Journalism and (Story)telling at Carleton University’s School of Journalism. A longtime CBC radio host and TV news correspondent, he’s the author of Decolonizing Journalism: A Guide to Reporting in Indigenous Communities and The Shoe Boy, a memoir of his time spent on a trapline with a Cree family in northern Quebec. Duncan is a proud Anishinaabe, from the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in southern Ontario.

2019 — Kate Harris

The 2019 Jack Matthews Fellow is author and adventurer Kate Harris. Her debut, Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road, was a #1 national bestseller and winner of the prestigious RBC Taylor Prize. Her next memoir, Falling to Earth (Knopf, 2027), explores local and cosmic wanderlust in the Boundary Ranges. A widely published writer featured in Granta, Outside, and The Walrus, Kate also serves as a team leader for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, managing editor for Global Environmental Politics, and faculty editor at the Banff Centre’s Mountain Writers Intensive.

2018 — Bill Buxton

Bill Buxton is a relentless advocate for innovation, design, and - especially - the appropriate consideration of human values, capacity, and culture in the conception, implementation, and use of new products and technologies. This is reflected in his research, teaching, talks, and writing - including his column on design and innovation for BusinessWeek.com, and his 2007 book, Sketching User Experiences.

2017 — Aaju Peter

Aaju Peter is an Inuit lawyer, sealskin clothes designer, and the subject of the documentary film Angry Inuk. She is an ardent defender of the rights of Canada’s northern Indigenous people and committed to preserving Inuit culture and language. Aaju has raised global awareness of the challenges confronting Canada’s most northern inhabitants, speaking about issues related to sustainability and resources, and their impact on the traditional way of life. In 2012, she received the Order of Canada.

2016 — Dalal Al Waheidi

Dalal was born and raised in Kuwait. Her family fled to the Gaza Strip after the Gulf War. She witnessed the terrible impact of war on children, political instability, violence and conflict. These early experiences gave Dalal a unique understanding of the real costs of political and cultural divide, allowing her to place hope firmly in the value of cooperative peace-building. Drawing on these experiences, Dalal has been a leading force behind WE Charity’s innovative initiatives, including WE Day events, partnerships with school boards, and the highly successful O Ambassadors program through Oprah’s Angel Network.

2015 — Wab Kinew

The 2015 Jack Matthews Fellow, Wab Kinew is an author, broadcaster, and the Premier of Manitoba—making history as the first First Nations premier of a Canadian province. Before entering public office, he was an award-winning journalist, host of CBC’s documentary series 8th Fire, and Associate Vice-President of Indigenous Relations at the University of Winnipeg. Kinew is also the bestselling author of The Reason You Walk and an advocate for Indigenous culture and youth leadership.

2014 — Shelagh Rogers

The 2014 Jack Matthews Fellow, Shelagh Rogers, OC, is an iconic CBC broadcaster with deep ties to Trent University and the Canadian Canoe Museum, where she serves as its first honorary ambassador. Describing her life’s work as a narratologist, Shelagh uses the power of human stories and shared experiences to foster truth, empathy, and global citizenship. Beyond her distinguished broadcasting career and service as Chancellor of the University of Victoria, she is nationally recognized for her personal courage in speaking openly about depression and advocating for mental health awareness.

2012 — Joseph Boyden

Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. His first novel, Three Day Road won the Amazon/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His second novel, Through Black Spruce, won the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and his third book, The Orenda was named the winner of the 2014 edition of Canada Reads. Boyden studied creative writing at York University and the University of New Orleans, and subsequently taught in the Aboriginal Student Program at Northern College. He is currently a Lecturer with the University of British Columbia’s Creative Writing Program. During his JM Fellowship, Joseph Boyden was named the second ambassador at large for the Canadian Canoe Museum; in June of 2014, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Trent University.

2012 — Nicolas Dickner

The 2011 Jack Matthews Fellow, Nicolas Dickner is an award-winning Canadian novelist and columnist. He is best known for his debut novel Nikolski, which won Canada Reads 2010 alongside numerous literary prizes in both its French original and English translation. Dickner is also the author of Apocalypse for Beginners and Six Degrees of Freedom (Six degrés de liberté), which won the 2015 Governor General’s Literary Award for French Fiction. Based in Montreal, his writing frequently explores themes of geography, solitude, and global connection.