When Dr. Audrey Penner retires as president of Northern College at the end of December, she’ll head home to Nova Scotia to attend to what she calls “family things”.
“Family is way more important than anything else we do,” she emphasizes, “and I came to the realization that I really had to support my family in the way they’ve always supported me. In all life, things happen, and you’ve got to stick by your people.”
Penner has been in senior management at Northern for ten years, the last three as president. She says among her proudest achievements is the establishment of an innovation hub, with more on the way.
She says they’re an important link between industry and the college.
“We can be prototyping for industry. We can be doing test drives for industry and our students learn so much in that process.”
The audio of our complete, wide-ranging interview with Dr. Penner is posted here. . She talks about assuming the presidency early in the pandemic; how proud she is of the college’s culture and diversity; and the inspiring, emotional story of what got her into education as a career.
