TORONTO.- The Royal Ontario Museum announced the recent appointment of W. Robert (Bob) Farquharson as the new Chair of the ROM Board of Governors, effective July 1, 2009 for a three-year term. Mr. Farquharson succeeds Mr. James (Jim) C. Temerty, C.M., Chairman of Northland Power Inc., who has served as Chair since 2002.

“We’re very pleased to welcome Bob Farquharson to the Board as its new Chair. His involvement, passion and deep commitment to the Museum gives him a thorough understanding of our dual mandate of world cultures and natural history,” said William Thorsell, ROM Director & CEO. “On behalf of the entire ROM community, we would also like to express our deepest thanks to Jim Temerty for his exemplary leadership over these last historic years at the ROM. Under Jim’s leadership, the Renaissance ROM Campaign has become the most successful cultural campaign in Canadian history, with over $282 million raised in support of the ROM,” said Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, President & Executive Director of the ROM Governors.

Bob Farquharson is Director and Vice Chairman of AGF Management Limited. He joined AGF in 1963 as an analyst and today is one of Canada's leading investment managers with over four decades of experience. He is well known for managing the AGF Canadian Growth Equity Fund and various AGF resource funds, both global and domestic, as well as AGF Precious Metals Fund.

Bob is also Chairman of AGF Asset Management Asia located in Singapore and Chairman of AGF International Advisors Company Limited located in Ireland. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the University of Guelph and is a past Chair of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) as well as a former Director of the Toronto Stock Exchange. Bob earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

“I’m honoured to take on this new role at the Royal Ontario Museum,” remarked Mr. Farquharson. “The ROM is at the forefront of Toronto’s arts and culture community and is poised to become an even greater, more diverse and accessible institution after the successful completion of Renaissance ROM.” Over the past several years, Bob has volunteered for many charitable and cultural organizations. He served as Director of the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation, was Chair of ConnectABILITY - Community Living Toronto, and is on the Advisory Council for Creative Trust.

The Royal Ontario Museum is an agency of the Government of Ontario. The ROM Board of Governors is the Museum’s private sector Board, responsible for the ROM’s long-term financial health and for the growth and management of its financial assets including endowments, capital and flow-through funds. The Board consists of 29 Governors - 26 are elected by the Board and three are ex-officio members. Governors are volunteers who are dedicated to public service and the ROM’s well-being and long-term stability.