Richard Alway

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Richard Martin Holden Alway, O.C., Phil.M., D.Litt.S. (born 1940) is a former Canadian radio broadcast commentator and is the current and first lay President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of St. Michael's College.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario,^[1] he graduated from the University of Toronto summa cum laude in 1962. He was a gold medalist in philosophy at St Michael’s College and has two graduate degrees in Modern History from the University of Toronto.

He was a broadcast commentator on Canada’s largest radio station, CFRB, for ten years between 1976 and 1986, and acted as publisher of The Catholic Register, Canada’s largest Catholic newspaper for two years at the request of Cardinal Emmett Carter, following the sudden death of Father Sean O’Sullivan. Dr. Alway was co-founder of St Basil’s Hostel for homeless youth, founding Chairman of the Cathedral Council of St Michael’s Cathedral, and has taken a leading role in various initiatives to promote further understanding and cooperation between the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches in Canada .

As well as being President of St. Michael’s at the University of Toronto, Dr Alway is currently Chairman of the C.D. Howe Memorial Foundation. Dr. Alway is also a collector of historic Canadian art and has donated works from his collection to a number of Ontario Galleries. He specializes in the work of Canadian women artists of the 1920's, 30's and 40's. Dr Alway has served on a number of boards of voluntary associations including the Canadian Educational Standards Institute, and currently is a member of the Board and the Executive Committee of St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and Vice-Chair of the Board and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute. He is also a member of the Board of W. F. Morneau Services Inc., a human resources consulting firm with offices in Canada and the U.S..

In 1986 he was appointed by Order in Council as Acting Director of the National Gallery of Canada on leave from the University of Toronto. He remained in this position during the construction phase of the new gallery building in Ottawa. While at the National Gallery he was also appointed Chairman and C.E.O. of the Ontario Heritage Foundation, the province’s lead agency for architectural, archaeological, and natural heritage, a post he held for the maximum allowable 2 three-year terms.

He is the chair of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada. He was appointed for two terms (1996 to 2001 and 2001 to 2006).

In the past he has served on a number of national cultural boards and advisory committees. A member of the Board of Trustees of the National Museums of Canada from 1979 to 1986, he was Chairman of the National Gallery of Canada, of the National Programmes Committee of the National Museums, and at one point Acting Chairman of the National Museum of Natural Sciences, as well as a member of the Board of the National Postal Museum and the Canadian Opera Company.

In 1989, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Officer in 1998. He was awarded the Order of Ontario in 2001. He was appointed Knight of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign and Military Order of Malta, Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and Knight Grand Cross with Star of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the highest recognition for a layman.