University of Ottawa 'founder' dies at age 92

Students hold a meeting about a racist message carved into a University of Ottawa bathroom stall Friday, Nov. 9, 2012.

The University of Ottawa is mourning the death of one of its founders.

Father Roger Guindon passed away Saturday at the age of 92.

University president Allan Rock said Guindon will be remembered for “the astonishing transformation he brought about” at the school.

“Roger Guindon was nothing less than the founding father of the modern University of Ottawa,” Rock said in a statement.

“Under his remarkable leadership, a small private institution owned by the Roman Catholic Church transformed itself in 1965 into what was to become one of Canada’s leading public universities.”

Guindon was president (or “rector” at the time) of the university from 1965 to 1985, which included a span when Rock was president of the university’s student association.

"In 1969 . . . I presented him in his office with our demands for student seats on the University’s Board of Governors and Senate—a rather radical notion at the time,” Rock said.

“He made it clear in no uncertain terms, though, that reform would come on his timetable, not ours.

“I discovered only later that Father Guindon had already begun paving the way for the changes. He simply needed the time to bring others around, and he succeeded.”

Rock said the university itself will serve as the most enduring memorial to his work.