I recognize a lot of people may not know who I am, but maybe you may have seen my photo in an alumni email or my name on the alumni engagement survey.
Or maybe you’ve heard a story or two about me (most of them are true, believe it or not), but either way, I thought I’d introduce myself.
My name is Andrew Martel, a proud UNB computer science 2015 grad. I was born in Ottawa, raised in the potato fields of Prince Edward Island, and eventually paid $65 (now $20) to cross the Confederation Bridge to go to UNB in the fall of 2009.
A fun fact about me (and my wife, also a UNB grad): we spent 2024 travelling the world. Fortunately, with the “work-from-home” option, we spent 370 days travelling from Canada to South America to Europe to the Middle East, then Southeast Asia and finally Australia before taking the long plane ride home in the middle of February 2025. We visited 19 countries and saw some unforgettable sights. If you didn’t read the last issue of the magazine, you can learn more about our travels in it.
This past July, I officially took on the role of president of the Associated Alumni, and let me tell you, it has been a blast so far. I’ve had the pleasure of attending the 25th-and 50th-anniversary pin ceremony breakfast in Saint John. Additionally, I got to attend the UNB alumni-sponsored Signal Hill concert at the alumni-owned AREA506 Container Village (how did they transition Pink Pony Club into Billy Joel so effortlessly?).
Aside from that, I’ve had the honour of sitting on stage in both Saint John and Fredericton for our fall convocations—seeing hundreds of new alumni cross that stage to receive their diplomas and pins, and join our family. To them, I say welcome, we’re excited to have you!
Before I go any further, I wanted to take a minute to thank Jennifer Sutherland Green LLB’99), my predecessor, for her time and work with the Associated Alumni. Jennifer led us through the milestone celebration of 100,000+ alumni living globally, as well as the final two years of our alumni engagement strategy, in which we launched an evergreen news site to tell even more alumni stories to the world.
She provided governance expertise as we modernized our bylaws, renewed our Memorandum of Agreement with the university, and introduced new Associated Alumni Council policies and practices. During her time, we also hosted a record number of activities that engaged more alumni than ever before. Jennifer, thank you!
Speaking of outreach, I also want to thank our many alumni who have filled out our alumni engagement survey. Your feedback directly informs our upcoming five-year alumni engagement strategy. I’m excited to work alongside our Executive Director, Michelle McNeil, and the wonderful team at the Associated Alumni to take all this great feedback and shape the evolution of these next years.
There is so much more I want to write, but I’m told there is a word limit, so I’ll talk to you all later or hopefully see you at an alumni event. Take care for now!
Andrew Martel BCS’15)
