Paul Armstrong has been selected to be Mohawk College’s ninth president.
While Armstrong may be stepping into a new role at the educational institution, his life has been deeply entwined with the it since he first began studying there in 1986.
He’ll be appointed to the position on July 1, succeeding current president Rob McKerlie, who has been the school’s head for ten years.
He most recently served as the college’s Chief Operating Officer, a role he was elected to in 2020.
There, he played a “crucial role” in leading the post-secondary institution through the pandemic, but his ties to Hamilton’s public college of arts and technology span back to the 1980s.
Thirty-six years ago, Armstrong attended the school where he acquired a diploma in medical diagnostics and radiological technology.
“I was fortunate to begin my postsecondary journey at this college,” Armstrong said. “Mohawk gave me the skills I needed to succeed in my chosen career, and provided the foundational knowledge that prepared me for success as a leader.”
“I am proud to be part of an amazing team of faculty and staff at Mohawk College and grateful for the opportunity to lead an organization that has been such a big part of my life.”
On Tuesday, he visited the CHCH News and discussed his newly appointed position with Morning Live anchor Annette Hamm.
When she asked about his plans for the future of the school, Armstrong said he wants to keep things “current” when it comes to people’s educational desires.
“The pace of change right now in business and industry, in any sector, is something I’ve never seen before,” he said. “Our ability to make sure our programming is relevant and current, for them, is essential.”
He says that one thing that sets Mohawk graduates out from others is their ability to hit the ground running.
“We need to keep doing that … but [graduates] need upskilling, reskilling, retraining, they need new learning types embedded into the program.”
Moving forward, he wants to focus on the traditional workforce streams that Mohawk College specializes in, such as healthcare and skilled trades, but also expand to cover subjects like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity.
“We have 10 new degrees that are going to launch in a year, that are all focused on making sure that those technologies are embedded across.”
Armstrong says if you told him he’d be the president of the Mohawk College back when he was a student and the school’s former Chedoke campus, he wouldn’t believe you.
“I remember showing up there and that very first moment, it [wasn’t] just going to be some transactional education experience, they treated us like professionals. They were interested in our career success and I can tell you 36 years later, some of the people I met on that very first day were still checking in on me last night to say how proud they were.”
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