“It has been a great honour to serve our amazing polytechnic”
NAIT President and CEO Dr. Glenn Feltham is retiring at the end of this year.
Feltham, who joined NAIT in 2011 as the institution’s sixth president, has been a tireless promoter of polytechnic education both in Alberta and across the country. He will officially retire on Dec. 15, 2019.
“It has been a great honour to serve as president of our amazing polytechnic,” says Feltham. “I love our institution and all that it represents.”
“I love our institution and all that it represents.”
Since his first days at NAIT, he has immersed himself in the polytechnic experience. He got to know NAIT and its staff through Project President, where he became student-for-a-day in more than 30 different programs. Feltham also launched the institution’s annual employee engagement survey.
In 2012, he brought together almost 3,000 people, including staff, students, industry and government, to map out NAIT’s future as a leading polytechnic. The resulting document, NAIT 2021, defined the values and promises that have guided all decisions at the institution since then.
Under his leadership, NAIT has grown, both in the number of learners it serves and in its facilities. The Centre for Applied Technology opened in 2016, is one of the largest post-secondary spaces in Canada, with more than 5,000 students studying in leading-edge labs, classrooms and simulation environments.
The Productivity and Innovation Centre opened in 2018 as one of North America’s largest innovation spaces. The centre builds on NAIT’s partnership with industry, supporting business in becoming more productive and globally competitive.
NAIT’s footprint has also grown under Feltham’s leadership.
NAIT’s footprint has also grown under Feltham’s leadership. Earlier this year, NAIT acquired land on the Blatchford site – the former City Centre Airport adjacent to NAIT – and the Westwood Transit Garage property. The Spruce Grove Campus, home to NAIT’s Crane and Hoisting programs, opened in 2016.
Ray Martin, chair of NAIT’s Board of Governors, called Feltham “an outstanding leader” and thanked him for “his incredible passion for NAIT and his many contributions to advance polytechnic education in our province and country.
"He will forever be NAIT’s ‘cheerleader in chief.’”