After nearly a decade as President and Vice-Chancellor of Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), Dr. Lachemi's term comes to a close this December.
For everyone at DMZ, the founders, mentors, partners and team members who have called this place home, this isn't just a transition. It's a moment to look back at what was built and understand what it means for what comes next.
He believed in DMZ before the rest of the world caught on
When Dr. Lachemi took office in 2016, DMZ was already earning its reputation as a top university-based incubator in Canada, but his vision pushed further.
He didn't just support DMZ, he championed it. He built a culture where pushing back on the status quo wasn’t risky, it was expected. And he took a genuine leap of faith alongside us as we grew into something none of us had done before.
Under his leadership, DMZ expanded globally, launching hubs in Japan, Egypt, Vietnam, Qatar, the Caribbean and Innisfil, Ontario. What started as a campus incubator became a platform for founders across continents to build, connect and grow.
That kind of reach doesn't happen without a president who backs bold bets.
He built things that will still be here long after December
The truest measure of any leader is what keeps going after they leave the room. President Lachemi led the creation of two brand new schools, a rare and significant undertaking for any university.
The Lincoln Alexander School of Law was built around tech, equity and access to justice. That commitment to innovation led to a partnership with DMZ and the law school to launch the Startup Legal Support Centre to give startups access to legal expertise at the exact moment they need it most. Similarly, the new medical school in Brampton was built to rethink medical education through innovation, while addressing the needs of underserved communities.
On the entrepreneurship side, his impact is just as concrete. He backed the launch of DMZ Ventures, the for-profit arm of DMZ that provides pre-seed and seed funding for founders. He helped spearhead DMZ’s Black Innovation Programs and Women Innovation Programs, opening doors for founders who don’t always begin from the same starting line.
Behind each of these projects are real people whose lives have been shaped by his leadership: founders who secured their first investment, entrepreneurs who gained access to opportunities once out of reach and a new generation of professionals bringing innovation to traditional industries.
His story is TMU's story
President Lachemi came to Canada as an international student from Algeria and joined TMU in 1998 as a Civil Engineering professor. He became Dean of Engineering, then Provost, then the ninth President and Vice-Chancellor.
That path matters. It's the same one thousands of TMU students walk every year: coming from somewhere else and building something here. His journey isn't separate from the institution's identity. It is the institution's identity.
A big thank you
And from all of us at DMZ, thank you, President Lachemi.
Thank you for believing in what we could become, for giving us the room to take risks, and for standing behind us as we pushed the boundaries of what a university-based incubator could be.
You trusted our ambitions, even when the path forward wasn't always clear. So much of what DMZ is today was made possible because you believed in us. And as we look ahead, we hope to make you proud of everything we continue to build.
.webp)