Murray McCutcheon

Murray McCutcheon is VP Corporate Development at AbCellera. Murray lives in the Hawthorn Place local area. Murray was also involved in student housing rights campaigns in the early 2000s at UBC. More recently Murray has been involved in ensuring community voices are part of UBC's planning processes. 

Each candidate was asked four questions about their connections to, and engagements within, the UNA. I provide the questions and candidates answers below. Rather than asking them about their political platform (we will hear a lot about that throughout the election) I asked them to reflect on the more personal aspects of their lives at UBC in the UNA community.

Describe how you are involved in the life of the UNA community.

I live in the Hawthorne Place neighbourhood with my wife and two children and am highly active in the community in many informal and formal ways. Informally, I love to engage with my neighbours, help with our local community run, join spontaneous jam sessions on Main Mall, attend varsity sporting events, and play with my children in the parks or at community events. Formally, motivated by a desire to ensure the wonderful sense of UNA community is preserved, I helped organize opposition to the massive 36-storey towers originally planned at Stadium Road. This led me to run for a seat on the UNA Board in 2019 and I have served as an elected Board Director for the last two years.

What brought you to live in the UNA community?

I love the village-like, community atmosphere in the UNA: the mix of generations, the engaged and friendly neighbours, access to green space and Pacific Spirit Park, the many community events and amenities. I have three degrees from UBC and moved back to the UNA in 2016 to join a start-up at UBC. Although my company has now moved off campus, I choose to stay because I cherish this community and want to give back to it.

Where in Canada, or the world, did you grow up? What about living in the UNA reminds you of your childhood home?

I was raised in Kerrisdale, a Vancouver neighbourhood about 10km from UBC. Growing up as the son of a professor, studying for over a decade at UBC, and now living in the UNA, UBC has been a constant in my life. My childhood neighbourhood had many of the virtues of the UNA - children playing games in the street and walking to school, neighbours chatting over the fence, local shops, many walkers and bikers, little traffic. Unfortunately, Kerrisdale has changed and no longer has many of these virtues. It is partly for this reason I am so motivated to preserve a livable UNA community and ensure that new developments at UBC prioritize community well-being, sustainability, green space, and affordability rather than windfall profits.

How would you describe your normal daily routine?

A typical day starts with an early morning run before helping get the children off to school, a full day of work (often with a UNA subcommittee meeting to attend or plan for) and finishes with family routines that include coaching my son's soccer team on the local field, picking up kids from other activities. My best days always include family time and exercise.