Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr and Bryn MacPherson were there for the University Leaders’ Breakfast Forum
Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr and Assistant Vice-President Bryn MacPherson’s trip to Davos, Switzerland to participate in the “University Leaders’ Breakfast Forum” on January 22, among other activities, cost the university more than $18,000, according to emailed statements from UofT.
A media relations spokesperson told The Strand that the “trip was part of the University’s role as this year’s host of the World Academic Summit in September. As a global university, it is important to make connections with other academic leaders from around the world and to represent the University at international events.”
Regehr didn’t stay in Davos and her time there “was in connection to the activities involving the upcoming summit,” reads the statement from UofT. The cost of her trip, “including all expenses,” amounted to $8,174.
Assistant Vice-President Bryn MacPherson, UofT’s project lead for the World Academic Summit, also travelled to Davos. According to the University, MacPherson “attended planning meetings for the summit and was responsible for materials and logistics at the Leaders’ Forum.”
The university also financed MacPherson’s trip, costing $10,100.
Regehr and MacPherson were the only two UofT employees flown to Davos.
Phil Baty, chief knowledge officer at Times Higher Education magazine, co-hosted the “Leaders’ Forum” with Regehr. The two moderated a conversation on “the power of place,” which will be the theme of a Times Higher Education summit at UofT this coming September.
Regehr highlighted UofT’s strengths during the discussion and the University’s own “power of place,” telling the group that, “we really see that there’s a tremendous synergy between the university, the city, and our host region in that a great university contributes to its city in absolutely wonderful ways, and a great city creates wonderful opportunities for a university.”
Guests at the forum included Ralph Haupter, president of Microsoft Asia, Suzanne Fortier, McGill University’s vice-chancellor and principal, and Alicia Wilson, vice-president for economic development at Johns Hopkins University, among others.
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