Announcements – June 2018
Mount Royal University has named Meagan Bowler dean of the university library, effective July 1. Ms. Bowler has been working in academic libraries for more than 16 years. She had been serving in an interim role as university librarian for the last eight months, leading the library’s new technology-rich learning spaces and programs in the Riddell Library and Learning Center, which opened in June 2017.
Ishwar Puri has been reappointed dean of engineering at McMaster University, a role he first assumed in 2013 when he arrived from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is a founding academic director of McMaster’s Computing Infrastructure Research Centre.
Susan Searls Giroux has been reappointed vice-provost, faculty, at McMaster University. She first arrived at McMaster in 2004 as an assistant professor in the department of English and cultural studies, where she is now a full professor.
Vivian Lewis, university librarian at McMaster University, has been reappointed for another term. She arrived in 1991 as a government information specialist and assumed greater responsibilities in various roles prior to being appointed university librarian in 2013.
Tom Harris has been named interim provost and vice-principal, academic, at Queen’s University, effective July 1. His current position is vice-principal, advancement. Dr. Harris was a faculty member in the department of chemical engineering and served as dean of the faculty of engineering and applied science from 1996 to 2007. He is a fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
Andrew Hrymak, one of the longest-serving deans at Western University, in the faculty of engineering, has been tapped to become the new provost and vice-president, academic. He steps into his new role on Aug. 1. Prior to joining Western, Dr. Hrymak was a professor and chair of McMaster University’s department of chemical engineering and director of the Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice and McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute.
André Loiselle has been appointed dean of humanities at St. Thomas University, effective July 1. Dr. Loiselle is a professor in the school for studies in art and culture at Carleton University, where he has taught courses on horror cinema, film theory and Canadian cinema. At Carleton, he also served as assistant vice-present, academic, associate dean of graduate and postdoctoral affairs, and director of the school of Canadian studies.
The University of Calgary has named Deborah Yedlin to the position of chancellor, effective July 1. Ms. Yedlin has been observing, commenting and writing about the nexus of business and politics for more than two decades as a journalist for the Financial Post, Globe and Mail and Calgary Herald newspapers. She has been a regular commentator on these matters for CBC and CTV since 1996.
Lisa Henderson has been named dean of the faculty of information and media studies at Western University. She will join Western from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she is currently a professor of communication and faculty affiliate in American studies.
Brescia University College has appointed Lauretta Frederking as its new vice-principal and academic dean, effective July 1. In her current role as associate provost at the University of Portland, where she has spent the last 15 years of her career, Dr. Frederking served as a member of the President’s Leadership Cabinet. Prior to that, she taught at Washington University and St. Louis University as an adjunct professor of political science.
Queen’s University appointed Karen Bertrand vice-principal, advancement, effective July 1. Ms. Bertrand joins Queen’s from the University of Guelph, where she led a team that raised $200 million in the BetterPlanet Project campaign. She was named associate vice-president, major gift advancement, in 2014. Prior to her time at U of Guelph, she was with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario for 11 years.
On July 1, Kimberly Woodhouse begins a two-year appointment as interim vice-principal, research, at Queen’s University. Dr. Woodhouse is a professor in the faculty of engineering and applied science, and served as dean of the faculty from 2007 to 2017. She also has nearly a decade of experience in private sector manufacturing and was chair of the Ontario Research Fund Advisory Board.
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, a renowned Indigenous Canadian judge, lawyer and advocate for children and Indigenous restorative justice, has joined UBC as the inaugural director of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre and as a professor with the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Dr. Turpel-Lafond, or Aki-kwe, is Cree and Scottish with kinship ties in First Nations in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Brandon University has appointed Katie Gross dean of students, a role she has been serving in an acting capacity since 2016. Since 2000, Ms. Gross has served as director of recruitment and retention in student services, and as executive officer to the president and to the board of governors.
Douglas Brown has been reappointed dean of the faculty of kinesiology and recreation management at the University of Manitoba, where he is also an associate professor. Dr. Brown holds a PhD in sport history from Western University. His research has focused on the origins of the modern Olympic Games, early Canadian mountaineering and winter sports, generally.
Netha Dyck is the University of Manitoba’s new dean of the College of Nursing in the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, since Feb. 1. An alumna of U of M’s nursing program, Dr. Dyck recently served as dean of the school of nursing and school of health sciences at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Gady Jacoby is the new dean of the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, as of April 1. A faculty member from 1998 until 2010, Dr. Jacoby took an appointment in the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University in New Jersey before rejoining U of M in 2013. He has served in the Asper School as the Bryce Douglas Professor in Finance, associate dean of research and graduate programs, and acting dean.
In honour of his contributions to public health, service delivery and health-research funding, David Naylor has been awarded the Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research. The $35,000-prize is presented annually by the Friends of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Naylor is a professor of medicine and a former president of the University of Toronto. In 2016-17, he chaired the federal Fundamental Science Review panel, which produced policy recommendations in what is widely known as the Naylor Report. He was also involved in the transition of Canada’s Medical Research Council to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research; chaired Canada’s national review of public health after the 2003 SARS outbreak; and, in 2014-15, chaired the federal advisory panel on health-care innovation. Dr. Naylor was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2016.
Melissa Merrigan was named associate registrar, student records and services, at MacEwan University, effective April 3. Ms. Merrigan has 14 years of experience working in postsecondary education and earned a master of education from the University of Alberta. She has held positions at Dalhousie University, Keyano College, and most recently NorQuest College.
Mount Royal University’s new dean of the faculty of arts is Jennifer Pettit, as of April 20. Dr. Pettit had served in the position on an interim basis and, prior to that, was chair of the department of humanities for a decade. In 2017, she received the Idahlynn Karre Exemplary Leadership Award from the International Chair Academy, presented to an individual who exemplifies academic and administrative excellence in leadership.
On July 1, Douglas Ruck becomes the new chair of the board of governors at University of King’s College. While in private practice as senior managing partner with Ruck & Mitchell, Mr. Ruck chaired the Nova Scotia Labour Standards Tribunal, the Civil Service Employee Relations Board and the Public Sector Compensation Restraint Board. He also served as chairperson of the Board of Inquiry for the Human Rights Commission and as the first full-time chair of the Nova Scotia Labour Board. From 1995 to 2000 he was the provincial ombudsman for Nova Scotia.
The new dean of management at Concordia University of Edmonton is Alison Yacyshyn. Dr. Yacyshyn has been interim dean since late summer 2017. Prior to that, she was chair of CUE’s Mihalcheon School of Management. She brings a wide range of postsecondary teaching experience in Alberta and Ontario and has also worked as a senior demographer for the Government of Alberta.
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