U of R to award honorary degree to Gary J. Drummond at Fall 2023 Convocation
The University of Regina will award Gary J. Drummond an honorary Doctor of Laws honoris causa (LLD,) on October 20, 2023 during the Fall 2023 Convocation ceremony.
Drummond is an alumnus of the U of R as he received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1971. He then obtained a law degree from the University of Saskatchewan and practised commercial law for 18 years.
He was a founding partner of Direct Energy in the late 1980s and since then has been the lead shareholder in a number of ventures, including real estate, farming, and ethanol production businesses, brew pubs and tap houses, oil and gas companies, an electricity and natural gas marketing company, a smart meter supplier, a security firm, and an upscale hotel in Kelowna.
Drummond was also a founding partner of an investment group that purchased and operated the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League, serving as the team’s president of hockey operations for four years, a job that he thoroughly enjoyed.
Drummond credits his success to what he learned in university, particularly about focusing, prioritizing, and building long-term relationships. A post-secondary education does not guarantee health or happiness, he says, but it is a foundational building block to a creative and successful career, and, generally, a better life.
“It is much more difficult without a post-secondary education to achieve that level of success, and so I feel that the grads receiving their degrees from the U of R are very fortunate, and will have opportunities open up to them, as they did for me,” said Drummond.
“Gary Drummond was awarded the Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019, in recognition of his career as a business leader,” said President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Jeff Keshen. “It is a great privilege to further recognize his accomplishments by presenting him with an honorary degree, the highest honour the University can award.”
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