Archie McLean, Campaign Vice Chair

Chair, Board of Governors, Tyndale University College & Seminary

Former CEO, Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

For more than 12 years, Archie McLean has supported Tyndale University College &
Seminary with his time, talents and resources. He is Chairman of the Board of Tyndale, and Vice Chair of Tyndale’s Uncommon Ground Campaign.

He is also a passionate advocate for Christian higher education.

McLean knows from personal experience the difference a strong, informed and dynamic faith can make in the market place. For almost four decades, he has been a prominent figure in Canada’s food and packaged goods industries. McCain Foods, Quaker Oats, Canada Bread Limited – McLean has held senior positions at them all. He retired from the top job of Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Maple Leaf Foods in 1998.

But it was early in his career, that he made a decision that would transform his life from being merely successful, to significant. At the age of 32, with four children and a flourishing career, McLean says he had allowed his faith to take a back seat in his life.

“I took six months off and got things right in terms of my character,” he says. He went back to the business community a changed man. “Suddenly when you get your priorities right, the quality of your contribution improves dramatically,” he observes, “cause you know what counts and what doesn’t. What’s important and what isn’t.

He strongly believes a Tyndale education can help to make the same difference in young lives today, and cites the school’s outstanding faculty as the primary reason. Not only are they highly competent and extremely committed, he says, but Tyndale’s faculty “have a genuine interest in the welfare of the students. Their concern is real.”

A husband and father of six adult children, McLean encouraged them all to pursue values-based higher education. His eldest son and daughter did so at Tyndale. “I think that Tyndale is a great place to build on the faith foundation young people receive at home. We hoped that our own kids would be significant contributors,” McLean remembers.

He concluded, “Significance is more important that achieving success. Tyndale is training the next generation of young leaders to make a significant impact on our world.”