“It is an honour and privilege to be the Interim Director of the LLC. My goal is to ensure that every student that comes through the LLC leaves with the necessary knowledge and practical skills to thrive in their chosen professions.”
— Dr. Ann Penner, Interim Director of TWU's Laurentian Leadership Centre
Trinity Western University is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Ann Penner as the Interim Director of TWU’s public policy program and branch campus in Ottawa, the Laurentian Leadership Centre (LLC), for the 2021-22 academic year.
This fall, current LLC Director Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham will begin a year-long sabbatical and research appointment, working with the newly approved International Institute for Religious Freedom (Vancouver), established at Trinity Western.
Dr. Epp Buckingham said, “I am very confident in Ann’s ability to carry forward the vision and mission of the LLC. She has been teaching courses at TWU as an adjunct professor for the last three years and has become a favourite instructor. As a former federal trade negotiator and tribunal decision-maker, she has the knowledge and experience to impact the students.”
Dr. Penner said, “It is an honour and privilege to be the Interim Director of the LLC. My goal is to ensure that every student that comes through the LLC leaves with the necessary knowledge and practical skills to thrive in their chosen professions.”
Dr. Penner brings with her a wealth of experience in public policy. After obtaining a Ph.D in Canadian Politics and Comparative Politics in 1996, Dr. Penner began working with Agriculture Canada’s trade policy division. She spent 10 years helping to shape Canada’s agricultural trade policy and participating in trade negotiations, including at the World Trade Organization in Geneva. From 2006-2012, Dr. Penner founded a communications consulting firm and provided a range of communications tools to senior government officials. In 2013, she was appointed as a Member of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, a quasi-judicial administrative tribunal that is at the forefront of Canada’s trade remedy regime, where she served for almost seven years.
Dr. Epp Buckingham is a professor at Trinity Western and the Director of the LLC. She previously served as Director, Law and Public Policy, for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and Executive Director of the Christian Legal Fellowship in Canada. She was a religious freedom advocate at the UN in Geneva for the World Evangelical Alliance from 2003-2006. Dr. Epp Buckingham’s research area is religious freedom law in Canada and internationally. She is also the Executive Editor of the International Journal for Religious Freedom.
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About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is Canada’s premier Christian liberal arts university dedicated to equipping students to establish meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. It is a fully accredited research institution offering liberal arts and sciences, as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four campuses and locations: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. TWU emphasizes academic excellence, research, and student engagement in a vital faith community committed to forming leaders to have a transformational impact on culture. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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