Mark Beckford, Gleaner Writer

Raymond Chang, chancellor of Ryerson University in Canada.

Gladstone Raymond Chang, the recently-appointed chancellor of Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, has been inducted into the St. George's College Hall of Fame.

He was inducted on Saturday night during a banquet at the Hilton hotel in New Kingston.

Mr. Chang was among four other persons inducted into the school's prestigious Hall of Fame.

They are: Claude McMorris, Rev. Leo F. Quinlan, Rev. Frances J. Ryan and Dr. Ralph Thompson.

The Hall of Fame honours outstanding past students and staff for community spirit, excellence and achievement in a particular field, inspiring leadership and national international recognition.

According to Mr. Chang, he was humbled by the award. He also said he was pleased to be grouped among a bevy of great men who have impacted Jamaica in a significant way.

The president of CI Investments, Mr. Chang says he has been provided with an opportunity to continue contributing to the part of Toronto which had become home to many Jamaicans.

He says about 55 per cent of the Greater Toronto population are new Canadians and his experience as a member of the community would assist him in his new role as chancellor of the university.

"A lot of Jamaicans have made contributions to the community and I feel a part of the community. I have made myself a part of the community, and the rest is history," he said.

Furthering adult education

Mr. Chang, who also has a continuing school named after him in Toronto with more than 60,000 enrolments, is involved with providing broadband education from Ryerson University to the University of the West Indies' (UWI) School of Nursing.

He says come January, new courses in distance education will be added to the faculty.

While commending the UWI on its involvement in adult education and distance learning, Mr. Chang said he hoped this concept would be further expanded in Jamaica.

"We always have to have a champion locally for anything to work, because no matter how good an idea or concept you have, you need to have people with a passion for it to make it work," he said.