Charles Pascal, Professor Emeritus, Leader, Friend
OISE is deeply grieving the loss of a treasured friend, colleague and mentor. Professor Emeritus Charles Pascal, a respected OISE faculty member, a former deputy minister of education, and passionate baseball aficionado, died on Apr. 24. Our most heartfelt condolences are with the family at this difficult time.
Simply, Dr. Pascal has been one of our most dedicated, accomplished and influential colleagues. He was an internationally respected educator with expertise in early and higher education, public policy and leadership development.
He never shied from a challenge, and took on roles as college president at Fleming College, as chair of the governing body for Ontario’s colleges (the Ontario Council of Regents), and as head of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation. He held deputy ministerial posts in social services and education and was also the Deputy Minister of the Premier’s Council on Health, Wellbeing and Social Justice.
He began his career with OISE in 1977, achieving many successes. Within OISE, he established and coordinated Canada’s first doctoral program in college leadership and secured the financial support for establishing the Davis Chair in College leadership – currently held by Professor Leesa Wheelahan. He was a founding architect of Canada’s first flex-time doctoral program in early learning and served as the coordinator of this highly innovative and successful program. He was also responsible for the establishment of the Atkinson Chair in Early Child Development at OISE.
During his tenure as Dean, Professor Glen Jones appointed Dr. Pascal as Special Advisor to the Dean and Acting Director of External Affairs. In this role, Dr. Pascal completely revamped and improved OISE’s capacity for advancement, government relations and internal and external communications. He recruited high quality staff and mentored a talented new Director, Sim Kapoor.
In every one of his posts, he devoted his life to ensuring that everyone had access to a quality, public education. His impact on education policy in Ontario – specifically and especially his expertise on full-day kindergarten programming – is a legacy that will benefit generations of young people to come.