The John Tattersall Bursary for Women in STEM
To celebrate John Tattersall and his impact on Algonquin College, the John Tattersall Bursary has been created in his honour, to help champion women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). After a six-year career with the College, during two stints, the Executive Director of Facilities Management will be retiring on August 31st.
John joined Algonquin College in 2011 after a successful 36-year military career where he rose to the rank of Colonel, including command tours at home and abroad.
During his first stint at the College, John led the search for an appropriate second ESCO (Energy Savings Contract) project, a multi-year initiative that encouraged innovation in the approach to better energy performance at the College’s Woodroffe campus. For this effort, he won a President’s Star Award and was a recipient of a national Colleges and Institutes Canada leadership award.
He was coaxed back to help the college early in 2019 and achieved some new objectives, including the completion of Algonquin College’s $9-million sustainable energy venture as part of the Greenhouse Gas Campus Retrofits Program. He also completed the development and led the construction of the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) that is slated for completion in 2021. Most importantly, John provided the critical leadership required to ensure Facilities Management supported the College mission through the maintenance and transformation of the infrastructure portfolio. This isn’t his first retirement from the College, but we think this will be his last.
Even if he didn’t attend the College as a student, John considers himself an alumnus since he learned everyday he came to work. In his work overseas, John has witnessed how imperative education is to empowering a population as it is a key component to establishing equality in society. John’s commitment to learning, living the College’s mission and values, innovative leadership and grace under pressure are just a few things that will be greatly missed.