COLLEGES AND INSTITUTES CANADA
Red Deer College President Joel Ward receives CICan's Distinguished Service Award

Red Deer College President and CEO Joel Ward was honoured by his peers of the Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan) Presidents' Leadership Network who named him as the 2019 recipient of its Distinguished Service Award. He is recognized not only for his leadership at RDC, but for his outstanding contribution to Canada's post-secondary system as a whole, throughout his distinguished career. 

Joel Ward became President of RDC in September 2009 and worked at colleges and institutes across the country in many different functions before that. A former professor of marketing and international business, he served as Dean of the School of Business at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, before becoming Vice-President Academic and then President and CEO of Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, Manitoba. 

He has also served as a member of CICan's Board of Directors and currently sits on the Board of the Canadian Forces Liaison Council of Alberta and the Edmonton International Airport Business Advisory Committee. 

"Joel Ward is a trusted leader with a wealth of knowledge and experiences accumulated over his many years of services within Canada's college and institute system", noted CICan President and CEO, Denise Amyot. "Under his tenure, RDC has grown and evolved, but what has truly marked his career is his dedication to the betterment of the system as a whole and of the communities that our institutions serve."