Al Huehn: A People’s Chancellor
Alan (Al) Huehn wears many different proverbial hats in his life. At work, he is the owner and CEO of Topco Oilsite Products, a mulit-million dollar business that produces and sells products for the upstream oil and gas industry, and the President of The Western Group of Companies, a manufacturer of general industrial moulded polyurethane and rubber products. At home, he is the husband to Trish and grandfather to four granddaughters and one grandson. On October 24, Al will add another accolade to his long list of accomplishments as he is installed as Concordia University of Edmonton’s third Chancellor.
You likely know his name already as it is all over our campus, from the Al & Trish Huehn Theatre, the Al Huehn Lounge for faculty and staff and the Macie and Kaiden Jacobseon observation room, named after two of his aforementioned five grandchildren. He and Trish are hopeful that both will be CUE graduates in future years. What you may not know is the story of how Al got connected with Concordia University of Edmonton, and his long legacy of public service to the CUE Community.
It all began with a phone call from former CUE president Rev. Dr. Richard Kraemer, inviting Al to join the board. Dr. Kraemer was hoping to find more business-minded people to round out the Board of Directors at the time. “I turned him down,” Al says with a chuckle. “A year later he came back and said, ‘please reconsider.’ I made a commitment I would give the school 4 days a year in board meetings and 4 days in prep. I believe you have to be well-prepped when you go into a board meeting.”
Those four days soon became an even bigger commitment when, after just 3 or 4 meetings, Al was asked by the board chair to take the top job. He agreed to take on Board Chair responsibilities and soon realized the potential of CUE to go from good to great.
“The potential to get things done here is amazing because it can happen so much quicker than in a larger institution,” he says. “This is such a forward thinking school. It’s small, it’s agile, it has people who want to move things forward and now.”
In his nine years as Board Chair, he saw CUE’s enrolment double and the creation of our first PhD level program, PsyD. He credits having a strategic plan as one of the reasons for CUE’s success.
“If you stop planning and stop the strategic initiatives, your company is going to start to falter. Just like Concordia. What are we going to do short term and what are our long term goals? What do we need to do to get to our long term goals? It’s all about strategy.”
As he moves into the Chancellor role, he is preparing himself for new challenges in relationship building. “The Chancellor is the face of the university. Whether it be someone in political office or a donor from Alberta or anywhere, I think the Chancellor has to be accessible to everyone. And most importantly, to students.”
The Chancellor also plays an informal advisory role to the President, something that already comes easily to Al since he and CUE President Dr. Tim Loreman have already developed a strong friendship over the years.
Al plans to host a monthly dinner with students, faculty and staff members to hear suggestions on how to make CUE better. “A social setting is how you get to meet people and that’s how people then start to feel comfortable.”
He plans on elevating Concordia’ reputation through advocacy and deepening the relationships between CUE and donors and alumni. Though he splits his time between Edmonton, Calgary and Houston, Al is all-in with his commitment to helping CUE grow and form relationships with important stakeholders, including the provincial and municipal governments.
“I’m very committed to Concordia,” he says. “I’m not a guy for ivory towers and I’m not a guy for silos. We have to work in tandem with all levels of government to get things like new residences or a new academic wing built.”
He also plans on bringing his extensive oil and gas experience to the table to increase energy literacy in the CUE community. “My passion is two things in life besides my family, and that’s energy and education. And maybe its education first and then energy. I will do what I can to help either one grow.”
In his free time, Al likes to travel, golf and read. “I love to read. Mostly technical books, occasionally a bit of fiction, but non-fiction is more my thing. I have a bit of a reputation for picking up a book, I’ll read it, I’ll enjoy it and I’ll order a dozen copies and send it out to my friends. Trish sometimes just says ‘not again’,” he says with a roll of the eyes to mimic his wife’s reaction.
The Chancellor’s installation takes place in Tegler Students Centre on Tuesday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m. All staff and faculty are invited to attend this event. Please RSVP here.