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The University of New Brunswick is pleased to announce the appointment of 11 new members to the Board of Governors.

Among them are six leaders in academia, business and law: G. Robert Basque, Q.C., lawyer; Barry Cooper, chairman of BMO Asset Management; Hans Klohn, president of OSCO Construction Group; Carol Loughrey, semi-retired president of Ashfields Ltd.; Sharon MacFarlane, retired vice-president of finance for NB Power; and David Woolnough, retired director of Applied Research for the Nova Scotia Community College.

In addition, the Board of Governors will also welcome five newly elected members who are: Kirk Anderson, Faculty of Education at UNBF; Joe Galbo, Dept. of Social Science at UNBSJ; Shannon Carmont-McKinley and Stephanie Lord, students at UNBF; and Anthony Enman, student at UNBSJ.

Roxanne Fairweather, president and chief executive officer of Innovatia, was appointed chair of UNB’s Board of Governors.  Kathryn McCain, chair of the McCain Foundation, was appointed vice-chair. Both appointments were made on July 1, 2010.

In accepting appointments, Board members assume substantial responsibilities, including the strategic oversight, risk management, mitigation and fiduciary responsibility for the sustainability of the institution. The Board assesses the performance of the president, and approves, on the recommendation of the Fredericton and Saint John Senates, educational programs and conferral of degrees. Board members are responsible for approving policies, plans and priorities. The Board sets fees, allocates financial resources, and ensures strong financial oversight. It is also responsible for safeguarding the university’s lands and buildings.

The UNB community wishes to thank the members of the Board of Governors who recently completed their terms: Barry Beckett, Melissa Colwell, Cathie Hurley, Linda Kealey, Jon O’Kane, Georges Roy, Catherine Sutherland and Stacey Wilson-Forsberg. Appreciation is also extended to David Ganong who was named Governor Emeritus, an honorary rank awarded to individuals retiring from the Board.

About the appointed Board members

G. Robert (Bob) Basque, Q.C. received his LL.B from UNB in 1980 and is a founding partner in the Moncton law firm Forbes Roth Basque. Mr. Basque is a litigator mainly in the areas of administrative law, employment law and civil litigation. He counsels on corporate governance. He is a former President of the Law Society of New Brunswick, the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce and various other organizations. He has appeared before all levels of New Brunswick Courts and before many administrative boards. He teaches Labour Relations at the Université de Moncton Law School.


Barry Cooper received his B.B.A. from UNB in 1966. Continuously active in the life of UNB, he was a member of the Forging Our Futures campaign cabinet.  Mr. Cooper is chairman of BMO Asset Management, the global investment management division of the Bank of Montreal. Throughout his 40 year career in the investment industry, he has served on many public, private and industry boards.


Hans O. Klohn received his B.Sc.E.CE. from UNB in 1976 and, while a student, played on the varsity men’s volleyball team.  Currently, he is president of OSCO Construction Group, a collection of companies operating in steel, concrete and construction. The company has been in business since 1955, and serves a variety of markets throughout Atlantic Canada, the Eastern US, and the Caribbean. 


Carol Loughrey is semi-retired president of Ashfields Ltd. She was a practicing Chartered Accountant, an Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Administration at UNB, and spent 10 years as a deputy minister in the New Brunswick government. She served as vice-chair of the New Brunswick Law Foundation for 10 years, and researched and wrote the report that resulted in scholarship and bursary endowments to the two N.B. law schools. Ms. Loughrey has headed many professional and charitable organizations at the local, provincial and national level. Ms. Loughrey was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2004 in the area of Industry/Commerce/Business.

Sharon MacFarlane received her B.B.A. from UNB in 1979. She was a member of UNB’s Forging Our Futures campaign cabinet and received an award of achievement from the Faculty of Business Administration in 2001. Ms. MacFarlane worked as a chartered accountant in public practice with Thorne Riddell, a predecessor firm to KPMG. In 1984, she became the Manager of Finance with the Atlantic Lottery Corporation.  After four years, she joined Mount Allison University, eventually filling the position of vice-president of finance and administration. In 1998 she received the Board of Regents Distinguished Service Medal from the university. Ms. MacFarlane joined NB Power in 1997 as Managing Director, Finance and retired as Vice-President Finance in 2010. She is on the Board of Directors of ca-r-ma.org, Cat Rescue Maritimes, and is a founding member of the Fredericton chapter.


David Woolnough was educated in Scotland, and completed his Doctorate at UNB. He is in demand as a consultant in the areas of human resource analysis of geomatics training organizations and in rural community development, and has worked overseas on missions for the federal and provincial governments, working with such groups as the Saudi military and the national mapping organization in the Philippines.  Dr. Woolnough serves on numerous boards and committees, both locally and nationally. He is the author of numerous papers, chapters of books and has authored one book. He has been a staff lecturer at UNB, the University of Alberta, Michigan State University, and the University of Glasgow.

Established in 1785, UNB is one of the oldest public universities in North America. More than 11,000 full- and part-time students from more than 100 countries are studying on campuses in Fredericton and Saint John and several thousand more are taking UNB courses online and at partner institutions around the world. As the largest research institution in New Brunswick, UNB conducts more than 75 per cent of the province’s university research. The university has an annual operating budget of more than $165 million and annually employs more than 3,500 faculty, staff and students.