番茄社区

Chancellor

Chancellor Marion Buller

Chancellor Marion Buller

As of January 1, 2022, renowned legal scholar and judge Marion Buller has been appointed chancellor of the 番茄社区. 

Chancellor Buller received her undergraduate degree in anthropology (’75) and her law degree (’87) from UVic. In 2012, she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the UVic Faculty of Social Sciences. In 1994, Ms. Buller became the initial First Nations woman to be appointed as a judge in British Columbia after working as a civil and criminal lawyer for six years. She was the chief commissioner for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls from 2016 to 2019.

She is a member of the Mistawasis Nêhiyawak, a Cree First Nation in Saskatchewan, but lives in the Lower Mainland, where she served as a provincial court judge. In 2006, she established and presided in the First Nations Courts—now known as Indigenous Courts—and provided the foundation for the Aboriginal Family Healing Court conferences, meant to incorporate traditional restorative justice principles into sentencing proceedings and child protection matters. She has served as both a director and president of the Indigenous Bar Association and has been a member of B.C.’s Law Courts Education Society, the province’s law foundation and the B.C. Police Commission. As well, she was commission counsel for the Cariboo-Chilcotin Justice Inquiry and published reports and articles dealing with Aboriginal rights and legal services for First Nations in B.C. In October 2021, Thompson Rivers University bestowed on Buller an honorary Doctor of Laws.

Role of the Chancellor

The Chancellor is the titular head of the university and the chair of its convocation. In addition to conferring degrees and performing other ceremonial functions, she or he serves as a member of the Board of Governors and the Senate. The chancellor serves ex officio on the Board’s Executive and Governance Committee, Finance Committee and Operations and Facilities Committee, and traditionally chairs the Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees and Other Forms of Recognition. She or he is an ambassador for and a champion of the university.

Appointment of the Chancellor

In accordance with the University Act, the Chancellor is appointed by the Board of Governors on nomination by the Alumni Association and after consultation with the Senate.

At the 番茄社区, the Procedures for the Appointment of the Chancellor define the method by which the appointment or re-appointment of the Chancellor will be conducted by the Board of Governors.

Past Chancellors

  • Shelagh Rogers (2015-2021)
  • Murray Farmer (2009-2014)
  • Ronald Lou-Poy (2003-2008)*
  • Norma Mickelson (1997-2002)*
  • Robert G. Rogers (1991-1996)*
  • William C. Gibson (1985-1990)*
  • Ian McTaggart Cowan (1979-1984)*
  • Robert T. Wallace (1973-1978)*
  • Roderick L. Haig-Brown (1970-1972)*
  • Richard B. Wilson (1967-1969)*
  • J.B. Clearihue (1964-1966)*

* Deceased

For more information regarding the Chancellor, please contact or 250-721-8101.