SUDBURY – July 14, 2021: The Cambrian College Board of Governors has extended the contract of President Bill Best, effective immediately.
The Board has given Best a multi-year contract extension, meaning he will serve as Cambrian’s President until August 2028.
“We are very pleased to have Bill continue to lead Cambrian College,” says Paul Pedersen, Chair of Cambrian’s Board of Governors.
“Bill has navigated Cambrian College through some of the most unprecedented and challenging times in the school’s history. Under his strategic and steady leadership, Cambrian is emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic as dynamic and strong as ever. We are on sound financial footing and have an exciting new Strategic Plan to move us forward. Bill is the right person to lead us.”
Bill Best has served as Cambrian’s President since August of 2014. Prior to joining Cambrian College, Best spent eight years at New Brunswick Community College, where he served in numerous senior executive roles, including Interim President and CEO, Vice President Finance and Administration, and Vice President Academic and Student Development.
Bill also serves as the Chair of the Ontario College Athletic Association and President of the Ontario Colleges Library Service.
In the Sudbury community, Bill is Board Chair for Kivi Park, a Director with NORCAT, and has recently joined the Sudbury Airport Community Development Corporation Board of Directors.
Under Best’s leadership, Cambrian College has experienced yearly enrolment growth, exceeding 5,000 students for the first time, with approximately 1,400 international students from 30 countries and more than 600 Indigenous learners calling Cambrian a home away from home.
Cambrian has truly evolved into a 12- month global college featuring multiple student intakes and new program and credential offerings.
Cambrian has also emerged as a national leader in applied research and is home to the Centre for Smart Mining.
As well, Cambrian has remained fiscally conservative over Best’s tenure, self-funding more than $30 million in classroom equipment, deferred maintenance, and modernization with further investment to come over the coming years.
“Cambrian has such a broad reach into our community, our province, and increasingly around the world, and the success of our graduates is thanks to our tremendous team of faculty and staff who are dedicated to making a difference in the lives of our students every day. We have accomplished so much as an organization, and I am energized by the opportunities ahead for Cambrian as we continue to grow our standing within the postsecondary system as a polytechnic pathway for students” says Bill Best. “We’re in for an exciting and challenging future, and I am humbled and honoured to be able to be part of it.”
Cambrian College is Northern Ontario’s largest college, with more than 80 programs. Cambrian’s main campus is in Greater Sudbury, with satellite centres in Espanola and Little Current.
