Boswell, Edward (Ted) F.

ENCAENIA, MAY, 1999
EDWARD BOSWELL
to be Doctor of Science

Among the many successful alumni of the University of New Brunswick, Ted Boswell stands out as a leader in his field. He recently retired from his position as Chairman and Chief Executive officer of E. B. Eddy Forest Products Ltd., having worked his way from the bottom to the top over a period of more than 40 years.

He began with a summer job, working in the woods straight out of high school. By the time he graduated from UNB with his forestry degree in 1960, he was sufficiently experienced that the company made him foreman of a logging crew of 300, the youngest to hold such a position in the company's history. By 1988, he was Chief Executive Officer and ten years later was named Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The E. B. Eddy Company is one of Canada's leading manufacturers of paper, from the lightweight printing paper used in book publishing to coated, specialty and packaging grade papers, including those with recycled content. Founded in the nineteenth century as a manufacturer of matches, Eddy is today an integrated forest products company with forest management responsibilities for over 4 million hectares of Crown Land in northern Ontario, a large pulp and paper operation at Espanola, and five sawmills and a several paper mills in various parts of Canada and the United States. It employs 3200 people and generates annual sales exceeding $900 million.

While the typical annual report of E.B. Eddy is impressive, it is the social and environmental concerns of this company that sets it apart among Canadian businesses. Ted Boswell has a social conscience. Under his leadership, he insisted that his company respond to widespread public interest in the environment. He accepted the challenge to develop models of sustainability in the forest industry by integrating community consultation, protection of workers' jobs, control of solid waste and toxic emissions, efficient use of water and energy, and responsible wood harvesting and reforestation practices. The company began publishing sustainable development reports, every one of which was award winning. Singled out for personal honour, Ted Boswell received the Ontario Forestry Award, the Canadian Lumberman Association Wood Award, and the Canadian Forestry Achievement Award presented by the Canadian Institute of Forestry. He continues his work in environmentalism today as Chairman of the Board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. This is a businessman with a deep and abiding concern for the well-being of people, for the air they breathe and the water they drink, and for their shared need to make use of this planet's scarce resources in a responsible, sustainable way.

But lest we think that everything in life is serious, let me remind you that Ted Boswell was once a fun-loving student at UNB. He was a member of the football team, a mover and shaker in student government, and a regular performer with his football team-mates in the annual Red 'n Black Review. It may be hard to visualize, but picture if you will Ted Boswell in knee-pants tip-toeing through the tulips. Better yet, imagine him wearing a tutu, dancing as a ballerina in the football team's corps de ballet.

It's fitting that we close by thinking of Ted Boswell as a UNB student, because he has never forgotten his alma mater. He is one of those faithful alumni who has supported his university over the years, he continues to act as an advisor to the Faculty of Forestry, and he epitomizes the good name and reputation enjoyed by UNB forestry graduates across this country. For his responsible business leadership, his innovation as a concerned environmentalist, and his commitment to making this a better world, we honour him today.

From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3