Feature Stories
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A Full Circle Moment: Celebrating the Impact of Chancellor Michael Durland
By Kate Elliot BA’12
Chancellor Michael Durland BComm'87 DComm'10 at a Saint Mary's convocation ceremony
There’s a moment at every Saint Mary’s University convocation when the room settles, the energy shifts and all eyes turn forward.
A pause. A smile.
“Well…”
And then: “You’ve done it!”
For graduating students, it’s a moment that lands with meaning. One that signals both an ending and a beginning. And for Chancellor Michael Durland BComm'87 DComm'10, it became a defining part of how he connected with each graduating class.
“The closing gesture was quite involuntary at first,” he says. “I wanted to connect with them, give them a last jolt of energy, give them the sense that they have really arrived.”
As Mike prepares to conclude his term as Chancellor, it’s that ability to create meaningful, human moments that has come to define his time in the role.
The moments that matter
When asked what stands out most, Mike doesn’t point to a single milestone or announcement. Instead, he returns to a feeling. “It’s been an amazing experience. It’s actually hard to describe how fulfilling it’s been.” Much of that comes from convocation, the place where his role came to life most visibly and most personally. “You arrive on campus and feel the energy of the students and are reminded of the purpose of the university.”
Over the course of his many ceremonies, he developed a habit of listening closely to valedictorian speeches, seeing them as reflections of something bigger. “They kind of tell the story of the time, for the university and for the students, and it’s often a story about challenges and support, and friendship, and it often reinforces the important, and often deeply personal, role a university plays in student’s life.”
But it was often the quieter, unscripted moments that stayed with him most—meeting families and supporters, hearing snippets of students’ journeys, witnessing pride in its purest form. “For many of them, they’re first-time graduates. There’s a lot of pride, a lot of emotion.” For Mike, these moments reinforced what he sees as the true privilege of the role. “You’re connected to a place that you love, and to all the members of that community in this really wonderful way.”
Chancellor Michael Durland BComm'87 DComm'10 at a Saint Mary's convocation ceremony
Chancellor Michael Durland BComm'87 DComm'10 and his wife, Catherine Durland BComm'87
Coming full circle
Long before he stood on the convocation stage as Chancellor, Mike was a Saint Mary’s student himself. “Saint Mary’s was this amazing time in my life. I really found a love of learning here. I gained a lot of confidence here.” Looking back, he sees that transformation as foundational. “I could not have imagined the life I was about to lead and how much the university prepared me for that.”
It was also at Saint Mary’s where he met his wife, Catherine, something he describes as deeply intertwined with his experience of the university. “When you add it all up, meeting her was the most pivotal moment of my life and we both have very special memories of that time. Saint Mary’s is a constant in those memories.” Returning years later in the role of Chancellor brought that story full circle. “When we go back, it feels like home. It’s this really special place.” That sense of home became a thread throughout his time in the role, something he intentionally reinforces in how he speaks to students, particularly as they graduate.
Giving back with purpose
During his time as Chancellor, the Durland family made a transformative $3-million gift to support graduate research at Saint Mary’s. For Mike, the motivation was deeply personal. “When I look back at my journey, it was a special group of faculty members who really were at the heart of my experience.”
One of those faculty members still stands out vividly. While at Saint Mary’s, he approached professor Jan Bartholdy for a reference to law school, only to be met with a different idea. “He said, ‘I will give you a reference, but only if you apply to Queen’s for your PhD.’” What followed was more than guidance. The two worked together on a paper, and when Mike wasn’t accepted in the first round, Bartholdy took it upon himself to advocate directly, driving to Queen’s University in person to make the case. “He said, ‘You have to take this guy. He’s just a great kid.’”
It’s a moment that has stayed with him, not just because of where it led, but because of what it represented: a professor who saw potential, took the time and changed the trajectory of a student’s life. The gift, he explains, was a way to recognize that special relationship. “It was our attempt to bring back to our amazing faculty a special thanks.”
At the same time, it reflects a broader belief in the role of research and the importance of supporting both faculty and students. “I wanted to find something that would be beneficial to them, to encourage young graduate students to come and be part of their labs and to grow into our next generation of faculty.” Underlying that is a bigger question, and one he continues to think about: “How do we create an environment where all our students can flourish?”
Spring 2025 Valedictorian luncheon
Confidence in the next generation
After years of watching students cross the convocation stage, Mike is clear about what gives him confidence in the next generation. “They are amazing. You definitely walk away a little bit mind-blown.” In particular, he points to a sense of confidence and readiness—something he sees as especially meaningful in today’s world. “There could be a lot of reasons today to not be confident, but yet I think our students have a sense of confidence and readiness that’s truly inspiring.”
He also sees something else: energy. “They have more energy at the end than they had at the beginning of their journeys. They’ve done it.” For Mike, that combination matters. “If you have confidence and you have energy, you have a really good start to a winning formula.”
Advice for what comes next
For graduates stepping into life beyond Saint Mary’s, Mike offers a perspective shaped by experience. “Many of our graduates feel a lot of pressure—they feel they should know exactly where that next leg of the journey is going to take them. When I left Saint Mary’s, I had no idea where my career would take me, and that was okay. That’s what makes the journey special—you work hard, absorb everything around you and the path eventually reveals itself.”
He often returns to an analogy his mother used. “Just because you have your driver’s license doesn’t mean you know how to drive a car.” The message is clear: learning doesn’t stop at graduation. “Keep educating, keep developing, keep having dreams. The day you graduate from university you’re nowhere near through your journey. It’s really just begun.”
Its advice rooted in patience, resilience and a willingness to embrace uncertainty. “Don’t fear failure. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying. That’s how you learn.”
A lasting connection
As he prepares for his final convocation as Chancellor, Mike knows the moment will be a meaningful one. “There’ll be a lot of mixed emotions.”
After years of standing at the front of the stage—welcoming, encouraging and celebrating each graduating class—it’s not just the ceremony he’ll reflect on, but the people behind it. The conversations, the stories, the moments of pride that unfolded between each name called. “You get to see the student’s moment of connection with their family and friends. Sometimes there’s a huge celebration, sometimes it’s more subtle. But there’s a lot of pride, a lot of emotion and you really get a sense of what it means to them.”
That connection, felt in those moments, has come to define his time as Chancellor. It’s something that reaches far beyond the stage, shaped by relationships, shared experiences and grounded in a deep appreciation for what Saint Mary’s represents in people’s lives.
A shared chapter
Throughout his term, Mike has worked closely with Saint Mary’s leadership, including former president Dr. Robert Summerby-Murray and Susan Summerby-Murray, whose presence helped shape the tone of campus life during his time as Chancellor. He has also supported the university through a period of transition, welcoming new president Dr. Michael Khan and the continued evolution of Saint Mary’s.
Behind the scenes, he is quick to acknowledge the many people who make the university what it is, from its Board of Governors to faculty, staff and the broader campus community.
That spirit of shared leadership and collective care is something he has both experienced and contributed to, and something that will continue long after his term concludes.
And while he has spent years offering words of encouragement to graduating students, Saint Mary’s now has an opportunity to return the sentiment. For the time, energy and heart he has given to this role, for the moments he helped shape, the connections he strengthened and the community he championed…
Thank you, Mike. You’ve done it.
Mike and his wife, Catherine BComm'87, established the Durland Family Doctoral Convocation Award to support PhD students as they reach this important milestone in their academic journey—reflecting their shared belief in the power of education and student achievement.
As we mark the conclusion of his tenure (2019 – 2026), we invite members of the Saint Mary’s community to honour his contributions and leadership by making a gift to support the Durland Family Doctoral Convocation Award.
Your generosity is a meaningful way to recognize Mike’s lasting impact and to help ensure that future students continue to benefit from the opportunities he has championed. Thank you.
From Saint Mary’s to the Stars: A Life Shaped by Saying Yes
By Renée Hartleib
John Read BComm’05 BSc’20 volunteering with school kids
John Read BComm’05 BSc’20
Sometimes a single “yes” can change your life. After graduating from Saint Mary’s the first time, John Read BComm’05 BSc’20 got a tip from his dad—a PEI potato exporter—who urged him to reach out to an uncle in the States. “I didn’t really understand who this uncle was or what he did,” John says, laughing, “but I sent him my resume anyway.” Several interviews later, the Saint Mary’s business grad was living in California and preparing to work for a Fortune 500 company.
The company was Clorox, and the lawyers needed a few weeks to figure out how to hire a Canadian. In that downtime, John met a film producer and somehow landed a small role as a doctor in a short film. “Literally tens of thousands of people move to California chasing acting jobs, and I wasn’t even looking. The takeaway? Say yes to opportunities, even if they seem preposterous or too good to be true.”
That mindset would continue to guide him throughout his life. In John’s 11 years at Clorox, he worked his way up to finance manager, met and married his wife Jennifer—an animal lover who worked for the American Humane Film and Television Unit—and acquired two houses, one in California and one in South Carolina. But even with all these accomplishments, there was something else calling him.
That pull traced back to childhood, watching Star Trek and reading National Geographic about the space shuttle. As a young adult, he bought himself a toy telescope at the drugstore and was awestruck to see Saturn’s rings. That sense of wonder was rekindled in 2010 when Jennifer gifted him a new telescope, this one a bit more upscale. That Christmas, the couple immersed themselves in a DVD box set of 96 lectures by Alex Filippenko, a UC Berkeley astronomy professor who played a pivotal role in the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Fast forward a few years, and John began volunteering with school kids, teaching them how to use telescopes. He also wrote a book called 50 Things to See With a Small Telescope, which he printed at Staples and eventually learned how to upload to Amazon. Working with telescopes and teaching youth was fulfilling him in a way that the finance tasks of his day job never could. He began to dream of moving back to Halifax to study astronomy or astrophysics, but wasn’t clear how he could make that leap.
Then, during the Christmas season of 2014, his path took an unexpected turn. John was shocked to discover that his self-published book had suddenly sold thousands of copies on Amazon. “That was a real eye-opener, to realize that writing books could be a lucrative source of income.” Seizing the opportunity, he reformatted the book to make it look more attractive and had it translated into 10 languages. By the next year, his easy-to-understand beginner’s guide to our solar system was generating almost enough income for his family to live on.
That’s all John needed. He quit his job in corporate America, applied to the Astrophysics program at Saint Mary’s and in 2016, moved his family—he and Jennifer had two kids by then, plus a dog and two cats—to Halifax. He quickly befriended Dr. Dave Lane, the Director at the Burke-Gaffney Observatory, and ended up as a tech at the observatory and a teaching assistant. At the same time, he ramped up his author career to fund his studies, publishing another seven space-themed books before graduating in 2020.
A still-unsated hunger to better understand the technologies behind space exploration compelled John to apply to Johns Hopkins University to achieve a Master's degree in Space Systems Engineering. In May 2025, he graduated alongside Katya Echazarreta, Mexico’s first female astronaut, and Lauren Savage, a renowned spacecraft design engineer.
During these years, John flew back and forth to Maryland, and he and his wife grew their family to three children. Together, they also founded an astronomy guidebook business called Stellar Publishing and bought a property near Prospect, about 30 minutes from Halifax and 10 minutes from Peggy’s Cove. “We originally thought of it as a place to do research for our books, but that grew into an idea to bring people out to enjoy the night sky.”
John Read BComm’05 BSc’20 volunteering with school kids
John Read BComm’05 BSc’20 volunteering with school kids
Their business, Stargaze Nova Scotia, sits on 26 acres with sweeping 360-degree views and some of the darkest skies in HRM. It’s also home to the Abbey Ridge Observatory, originally built by Dr. Dave Lane in his Stillwater backyard. After Lane’s death in 2024, his wife, Michelle, sold the observatory to John, who had it relocated to Prospect that same year.
It’s no surprise to hear John’s plans for the future of this new enterprise. They are as big and ambitious as his life so far and include building a main lodge, cabins and a series of wheelchair-accessible stargazing sites. “When I first hiked out here and saw this piece of land, it felt magical. It’s literally the perfect stargazing spot.” He envisions it being used by schools and other educational groups to learn about and be inspired by the night sky.
The energetic 43-year-old has also launched an @LearnToStargaze brand and regularly posts videos on a YouTube channel, as well as on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. He provides educational content aimed at the beginner stargazer and has seen exponential growth. His YouTube channel has nearly 80,000 subscribers, with his videos viewed over 10 million times.
John’s career as an author also continues to reach new heights. He has now published 16 books and received the Simon Newcomb Award for Excellence in Science Communication from the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. He is represented by Darhansoff & Verrill Literary Agents—of Stephen King fame—with several exciting new projects in the pipeline at Sourcebooks, an imprint of Penguin Random House. These include Babies First Stargazing Book, co-written with astronaut Sian Proctor, and Solar System Exploration for Babies, a 10-book series co-written with physicist and bestselling children’s author Chris Ferrie.
The two-time Saint Mary’s graduate credits a time-management course he took early in his career with helping him achieve his goals. Add to that a supportive spouse, a knack for building connections, an instinct to see the glass half-full, plus a willingness to say yes to new opportunities.
“Amazing things can happen when you just say yes,” he says with a smile. “A single choice can open doors and shift your direction, sometimes in ways you never anticipated.”
John Read BComm’05 BSc’20 holding the observatory sign with Dave Lane's wife Michelle Lane
Alumni Perks: A New Way to Stay Connected
By Maria Mannette BComm'25
In January, Saint Mary’s launched Alumni Perks, a new digital platform designed to strengthen connections across our alumni community while delivering meaningful, everyday value.
Replacing the physical alumni card, Alumni Perks offers a more accessible and inclusive hub, one that allows alumni to engage with benefits and services anytime, anywhere. With a simple sign-up process, alumni can instantly access their digital alumni card and add it to their Apple or Google Wallet, making it easier than ever to use their perks.
The shift to a digital platform reflects a broader goal: creating a space that evolves alongside our alumni while strengthening how we stay connected. By moving to a digital system, the alumni office can more effectively maintain accurate, up-to-date alumni data, better understand engagement and continuously add perks. Since launching, the platform has already welcomed nearly 1,500 members.
For alumni, the benefits are both practical and nationwide. The platform features a mix of local favourites (including the Lord Nelson Hotel & Suites, Darrell’s Restaurant, Purple Cow Internet, SMUfit, the SMU Bookstore and Moore’s Clothing), as well as national partners (such as TELUS, Bell, Expedia, FlightHub and Budget Car Rental). Together, these partnerships offer exclusive discounts and experiences across travel, retail, services and more.
Alumni Worldwide
Beyond discounts, Alumni Perks is designed to foster community, connection and opportunity across more than 60,000 Saint Mary’s alumni worldwide. Alumni can promote their businesses on the platform, access career-related resources and engage with the community in meaningful ways. Organizations and alumni entrepreneurs can also partner with the university by becoming an Alumni Perks Partner or collaborating on contests that reach a highly engaged alumni audience.
At launch, a partnership with TELUS offered alumni the chance to win $1,000, generating strong engagement with more than 700 contest views and over 500 entries, an early indication of the strength and enthusiasm of the SMU alumni community.
Looking ahead, the alumni office continues to expand the platform’s capabilities. Upcoming features include an alumni-owned business directory, where graduates can showcase their ventures to the wider SMU network and a storytelling hub, where alumni can share their personal experiences, milestones and reflections.
Alumni Perks represents more than a collection of discounts. It is a modern approach to alumni engagement—one that recognizes that being part of the Saint Mary’s community doesn’t end at graduation. Because being SMU Alumni has its perks.
Welcome to our Newest Alumni: Class of 2026
By Krista Keough
Saint Mary’s welcomes national hockey championship to Halifax
By Sofia Steiro BComm’25
Crowd shot at the 2026 U Sports University Cup at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax
Alumni team set up to hand out cheer gear to Huskies fans
A packed crowd, a championship run and a spot in the finals made it a weekend to remember for Saint Mary’s. For the first time in 10 years, SMU hosted the 2026 U SPORTS University Cup, finishing with a silver medal after a strong showing.
In the lead-up to the championship game, the energy around Saint Mary’s was hard to miss. A pre-game gathering at Durty Nelly’s brought together students, alumni, donors and friends of the university, with roughly 170 people in attendance. That momentum carried into the arena and didn’t let up.
Game after game, Halifax showed up. Fans packed the stands, bringing a loud, enthusiastic presence in support of the SMU Huskies. As the team advanced, the crowds grew—and so did the intensity. Alumni returned throughout the weekend, joining students in the stands and adding to the sense of community building with every game.
The championship was part of a partnership between Saint Mary’s, Halifax Regional Municipality and Scotiabank Centre Events and Arena to bring major university hockey events to the city. The 2026 tournament marks the start of a broader plan to host future U SPORTS University Cup championships in Halifax in the coming years, alongside events like the 2027 Women’s and Men’s Basketball Final 8, hosted by Acadia and Dalhousie University, and the 2028 Women’s Hockey Championship hosted by St. Francis Xavier University.
“It's an opportunity to be part of something unique,” says Scott Gray, Director of Athletics & Recreation at Saint Mary’s University. “A national championship happens once a year, and it’s not always going to be here in Halifax. It’s an experience, seeing a high-level event that you may get to see once in your university career.”
The success of the weekend was driven by a strong team effort across Saint Mary’s and the broader community. Sports & Entertainment Atlantic (S|E|A) played a key role in promoting and marketing the championship, while SMU Athletics & Recreation led much of the planning and logistics required to host a national event of this scale. The SMU Alumni Office helped drive the championship atmosphere throughout the weekend, engaging alumni, celebrating the team’s run and handing out cheer gear to fans.
With that level of support throughout the weekend, expectations are already building for the years ahead. The turnout and atmosphere pointed to a strong appetite for continued national-level university sport in Halifax.
The Huskies finished with silver, but the weekend was about more than just the result. It brought players, students and alumni together, creating a shared experience and a reminder of what’s possible when the community shows up.
Alumni Referral Program
Know a future SMU student? Share your Saint Mary’s University experience with the students in your life through our referral program. When a student you inspire chooses SMU, they’ll receive an exclusive welcome gift to kick off their journey—and as a thank-you, you will too. It’s a simple way to make a meaningful impact and help the next generation feel right at home from day one.
