Naus, who succeeds Richard Gwyn, chancellor since 2002, was very “surprised and shocked” when he found out that he had been nominated.

“I basically received a phone call asking how I felt about being nominated for chancellor. While I was very humble and pleased, I asked if I could have time to think about my decision. I had never seen myself having the qualities of a chancellor,” said Naus.

St. Jerome’s University is a Catholic university federated with the University of Waterloo campus in Waterloo, Ont.

Naus was elected by the board of governors and will hold the position for at least a four-year term. He was appointed on Feb. 1

“Dr. Peter Naus embodies our mission at St. Jerome’s and has taken his experiences and education to help many students and has volunteered a lot,” Dana Woito, director of mission and communications said.

Naus, a native of the Netherlands, began his teaching career at the Radboud University Nijmegen in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and then moved to Indiana to teach at the University of Notre Dame in 1966.

He moved to Canada in 1973 where he began his tenure as a faculty member in psychology at St. Jerome’s.

Until Naus’s retirement in 1996, he was active in the university in numerous capacities, including director of studies in the family life program and director of studies in sexuality. In 1997 Naus was made an honorary member of the university in recognition of his service to St. Jerome’s and the University of Waterloo.

Naus has volunteered his time and expertise to several community organizations prior to and since his retirement. His community board services include chair of the board of directors of Community Justice Initiatives of Waterloo Region and chair of the health services committee of Grand River Hospital in Kitchener.