Meet Wisdom Tettey, Carleton University’s new president

When incoming President and Vice-Chancellor Wisdom Tettey first visited the campus last fall, his favourite moments involved meeting and talking to students.

Those conversations, and the energy of Carleton’s vibrant community, reaffirmed his belief in the transformative power of higher education. They reminded Dr. Tettey, who began serving as the university’s 17th president on New Year’s Day, of his own academic path — an irrepressible drive to use the post-secondary experience to shape a more equitable and sustainable future.

“Students have always been at the heart of what universities do,” says Dr. Tettey, “and after spending a short amount of time with Carleton students, getting a feel for the work that is happening here, I can already see that they’re going to advance Canada and the world in new and innovative ways.

“Our role as an institution is to nurture and cultivate ideas and people, but students are particularly regenerative. They come here with a broad range of experiences and challenge us to rethink how we do things.”

An inclusive entrepreneurial mindset

Dr. Tettey started going to school in a lower-class neighbourhood in Accra, the capital and largest city in Ghana — a place that many people consider the “margin of the margins,” he says.

Even though his mother did not have formal schooling, she was a staunch believer in the power of education. Tettey had regular access to newspapers and the household was a vibrant gathering place for intellectual engagement with older siblings, cousins and friends who loved to debate, showing young Wisdom that curiosity and ideas could expand his world.

“Education can open so many doors,” he says. “It’s one of those areas where you’re not encumbered by other people’s perceptions of what you should be. You might be sitting in a classroom with people who are economically better off than you, but what matters is your critical engagement with knowledge.

“Coming to Carleton, I’m excited about helping to give people the chance to be in a space where we can grow to be our best selves and make valuable contributions to society.”

Dr. Tettey has promoted excellence at every institution that he has been part of over the years and notes that this outcome is deepened and expanded by a mutually reinforcing commitment to equity and inclusion.

“There’s always an opportunity to learn and grow,” he says, “because you can always continue to push the boundaries of knowledge. But, more importantly, we can make a more meaningful and positive impact on society by intentionally fostering a learning and scholarly environment where excellence, equity and inclusion enrich one another.”

This approach to education, he says, should be one of the fundamental missions of universities, and the Carleton community’s commitment to it is what intrigued Dr. Tettey upon discovering that the university was looking for a new president.

“I asked myself, is this a place where I can do the things that I believe in? Does it have the fundamental values and principles that undergird my own motivations?” The move to Carleton, he adds, was the result of a “bidirectional” decision making process.

“There are tremendous opportunities for Carleton, and also an opportunity for me to continue to grow and contribute in ways that I might not have been able to previously. There’s a stimulating, enriching environment that I can draw from.

“Relative to other places, Carleton is not as constrained by inflexible ways of doing things,” he continues. “It has a nimbleness, an entrepreneurial mindset and a spirit of innovation that are purposefully inclusive. I want to be part of this adventure.”

Maintaining the momentum

One of Dr. Tettey’s priorities at Carleton will be to enhance the university’s renowned student experience, ensuring that the learning environment is as robust and supportive as possible.

“We need to have the structures in place,” he says, “so our graduates can be conscientious and adaptable citizens and leaders, whoever they are and wherever they go.”

As a globally oriented institution, Carleton is well situated, Dr. Tettey says, to bring the world to campus, whether through research or partnerships or pedagogy. And the university is also poised to radiate out into other spaces to drive intellectual advancement, innovation and community impact.

This means, for example, leveraging Carleton’s location in the national capital to promote regional and international partnerships, including expanding the university’s presence in Kanata North, the largest research and technology hub in Canada.

“These are the types of actions we can take to elevate our institution,” he says. “This is the journey that will lead to great outcomes for society.”