Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology

Fanshawe College of Applied Arts and Technology, commonly shortened to Fanshawe College, is a public college in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. One of the largest colleges in Canada, it has campuses in London, Simcoe, St. Thomas and Woodstock with additional locations in Southwestern Ontario. Fanshawe has approximately 43,000 students and provides over 200 higher education programs.In 1962, the Ontario Vocational Centre (OVC) was founded in London, Ontario, and held its first classes on September 28, 1964. In 1967, it became Fanshawe College, part of a provincial system of applied arts and technology colleges. Fanshawe subsequently established campuses in Woodstock, St. Thomas, and Simcoe. The London campus originally consisted of three buildings, but has since been subject to a series of extensions. The college's name has old English origins, combining words fane (meaning temple or building) and shaw or shawe (meaning woods) to mean "temple in the woods".James A. Colvin was named Fanshawe College's first president in 1967 and held the position until 1979, when he was succeeded by Harry Rawson, who served as president until his retirement in 1987. Barry Moore was the third president from 1987 to 1996. Howard Rundle, Fanshawe's longest-serving president, subsequently led the college for 18 years until his retirement on August 31, 2013. Peter Devlin became president of the college on September 3, 2013, and previously served as a lieutenant general in the Canadian Army. In 2018, Fanshawe established its fifth school, the School of Digital and Performing Arts, offering creative programs previously offered by the School of Contemporary Media and School of Design. 130 Dundas Street opened in September 2018. The new building is home to 1,600 students from the School of Information Technology and the School of Tourism, Hospitality and Culinary Arts.On April 27, 2015, the family of the late Don Smith, the co-founder of EllisDon, announced that the School of Building Technology would be renamed the Donald J. Smith School of Building Technology in his honor. Don was the first recipient of a Fanshawe College honorary diploma in 1992. In 2008, Fanshawe presented his wife, Joan, with an honorary diploma. In 2014, Fanshawe announced that it would purchase the building of the recently closed Kingsmill's Department Store for expansion of its downtown London campus with a request for an additional grant of $10 million from City Council. The request proved politically contentious in an municipal election year with it being initially refused by Council following a tie vote on July 29. However, after the local organization, Downtown London, put up $1 million in support of this initiative, London City Council narrowly voted to approve the remainder of the funding after minor additional contract changes in its favor.On April 2, 2014, Fanshawe College unveiled its new visual identity and brand promise. Fanshawe president Peter Devlin stated that the new brand "focusses on Fanshawe's desire to help students reach their full potential." The rebranding process took place during the summer of 2013 where the input of over 6000 current students, staff, alumni, guidance counsellors, business and academic leaders, government and community partners was used to determine the new brand. The college named its new logo NorthStar because of its visual and symbolic link to the star famous for helping generations of travelers find their way. In an online survey, NorthStar was preferred two to one over all other concepts indicated in surveys, including the then current logo.Fanshawe is a comprehensive college serving the greater London region by providing flexible learning arrangements and experiential education opportunities developed in response to labour market needs. One of Ontario’s largest colleges - with four campuses in London, Simcoe, St. Thomas and Woodstock - Fanshawe serves close to half a million people with a promise to educate, engage, empower and excite. We offer more than 200 degree, diploma, certificate and apprenticeship programs to 43,000 students each year, helping people unlock their potential and achieve success in a variety of disciplines including applied arts, business, health care, human services, hospitality and technology. Fanshawe also plays an important role in providing re-skilling and skill upgrading opportunities for mature learners through the design and delivery of custom training for federally and provincially sponsored trainees, community organizations, sectoral training councils and private sector employers in the business, health, industrial and services sectors.

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