The last piece in Penguin Canada’s executive shuffle has fallen into place with the appointment of Rob Prichard, the former president and CEO of Torstar, to the role of chairman of the company’s newly formed board of directors.

The board, which also includes Penguin Group chairman and CEO John Makinson, Pearson Canada CEO Allan Reynolds, and Penguin U.S. CEO David Shanks, will work alongside newly installed Penguin Canada president Mike Bryan, who joined the company in August following the ouster of former CEO and president David Davidar.

Besides his experience at Torstar, which owns romance publisher Harlequin, Prichard is president emeritus of the University of Toronto and the former president and CEO of Metrolinx. He has served on the board of directors of McClelland & Stewart.

Prichard is quoted in the Penguin press release as saying:

I am delighted to make this association with Penguin on the company’s 75th anniversary, and I look forward to a renewed involvement in Canadian book publishing with one of the finest publishing houses in the country. Canada punches well above its weight in the literary world and Penguin Canada represents Canada to the world and the world to Canada. To represent the remarkable list of authors on Penguin’s Canadian list is indeed an honour as they are recognized nationally and globally for their distinguished work.