William Bruneau was elected at the spring CAUT Council meeting to succeed Gordon Shrimpton as Speaker of Council starting in November 2006. Shrimpton stepped down after serving for eight years.

In one of the several tributes to the departing speaker, newly-elected CAUT president Greg Allain thanked Shrimpton for his years of service, his unfailing grace in guiding Council’s work and his ability to ensure Council completed its agenda. Delegates gave Shrimpton two lengthy standing ovations.

Bruneau taught in the department of educational studies at the University of British Columbia from 1971 until 2003, when he took early retirement to undertake full-time historical and policy research, mostly in the field of post-secondary education, pursue his passion as a chamber musician and enjoy his grandchildren.

Educated at the University of Saskatchewan and Toronto, with interludes at Oxford and Paris, Bruneau’s recent books include a biography of Jean Coulthard, and (with coauthor Donald Savage) a detailed critique of performance indicators in post-secondary education. Currently he is completing a lengthy project on the work of Bertrand Russell.

Bruneau was president of the UBC Faculty Association from 1992 to 1994 and president of CAUT from 1996 to 1998.