{"id":489184,"date":"2026-02-21T04:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T04:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/489184\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T04:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T04:41:11","slug":"former-cfl-commissioner-randy-ambrosie-named-2026-distinguished-leader-by-brock-university-business-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/489184\/","title":{"rendered":"Former CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie named 2026 Distinguished Leader by Brock University business school"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo: Reuben Polansky\/3DownNation. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Former CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has been selected by the Goodman School of Business at Brock University as its 2026 Distinguished Leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur students are preparing to lead in environments that demand resilience, adaptability and integrity,\u201d Goodman\u2019s dean Barry Wright said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cRandy Ambrosie has lived those qualities at the highest levels. First as a Grey Cup champion, then as a senior executive in financial services and finally as commissioner of the Canadian Football League. His career shows that leadership principles transcend industries, and I\u2019m so pleased to welcome him as our 2026 Distinguished Leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ambrosie was named the 14th commissioner of the CFL in June 2017 and continued in that role until April 2025<\/a>, the fourth-longest tenure in league history. He helped shepherd the CFL through the COVID-19 pandemic, negotiated a seven-year-long collective bargaining agreement with the Players\u2019 Association, and successfully oversaw ownership transitions in three major markets.<\/p>\n

However, the 62-year-old left a mixed legacy following his departure<\/a>. He was a lightning rod for criticism because of his frequent public gaffes, controversial handling of player discipline, implementation of the Global program, and failure to secure expansion in the Maritimes.<\/p>\n

Prior to accepting the job with the CFL, Ambrosie held senior leadership roles in the financial services industry, including president and CEO of MacDougall, MacDougall and MacTier, and president of AGF Funds Inc., along with executive positions at HSBC, Merrill Lynch Canada, and Midland Walwyn.<\/p>\n

The Winnipeg, Man., native attended the University of Manitoba, where he played offensive line. He was eventually selected second overall in the 1985 CFL Draft and spent nine seasons as a player with the Calgary Stampeders, Toronto Argonauts, and Edmonton Football Team. Ambrosie won a Grey Cup in his final season in 1993, and also served as secretary of the Canadian Football League Players\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

Each year, the Goodman School of Business awards the Distinguished Leader title to a business professional who has demonstrated leadership and success in their chosen field.<\/p>\n

Past recipients include the president of Martin Brower Canada, Julie Dell\u2019Aniello; the former president and CEO of McDonald\u2019s Canada, Mich\u00e8le Boudria; the CEO of Wataynikaneyap Power, Margaret Kenequanash; the 13th Auditor General of Ontario, Bonnie Lysyk; the founder and chairman of Portland Holding, Michael Lee Chin; and the late Ned Goodman of Dundee Corporation.<\/p>\n

Ambrosie will be honoured on Tuesday, February 24, during a fireside chat with dean Barry Wright at 2:00 p.m. EST in Brock University\u2019s Goodman Atrium. The event is open to all students, faculty, and staff, as well as alumni and members of the public. All attendees are asked to reserve their seat in advance<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Reuben Polansky\/3DownNation. All rights reserved. Former CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie has been selected by the Goodman School…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[166835,166836,196670,49,48,7028,521,522,520,62411,527,196671,2002,196672,82],"class_list":["post-489184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-3down","tag-3downnation","tag-brock-university","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-commissioner","tag-football","tag-goodman-school-of-business","tag-league","tag-randy-ambrosie","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}