Born July 14, 1944 in St. Thomas, Ontario. Educated in St. Thomas and at the University of Western Ontario. Earned a B.A. in general arts in 1967 and M.A. in Sociology in 1968. Worked as a part-time reporter, nights, weekends and summers at the London Free Press from 1964-1967 while at university. Joined the Oshawa Times as a reporter in 1970 and became city editor later that year. Joined the Ottawa Citizen as a copy editor in 1971. Was promoted to assistant city editor, night news editor and assistant managing editor. Became editor of the paper in 1977. Was appointed general manager in 1984 and publisher in 1986. Became president of the Southam Newspaper Group in 1989, responsible for all of Southam’s daily and weekly newspapers. Returned to the Ottawa Citizen as publisher in 1992. Received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Carleton University in June 2002 for services to the community and the newspaper industry. Received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 for services to Canada. Was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from August 2002 to May 2003. Joined Algonquin College in August of 2003 and is now Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Media and Design. Is currently Chair of the National Capital Commission, President of the Michener Foundation for Public Service Journalism, a Director of the Canadian Film Institute and the Canadian Battlefields Foundation and Adjudicator on the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council.