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People on the Move

Announcements – June 2015

BY NATALIE SAMSON | JUN 02 2015

Ppl_June15_Robins_William_146William Robins was appointed president of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. A professor of English and Medieval Studies, Dr. Robins has been a fellow of Victoria College since 1996. In 2009, he served as acting principal of Victoria College and in 2013 served as acting vice-dean, faculty and academic life. He also served as director of U of T’s graduate English program. His five-year term begins July 1.

Kathy McNutt, who was previously director of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy’s University of Regina campus, has been appointed executive director of the school, with responsibility for both its Regina campus and the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon. The appointment takes effect July 1 for a five-year term. Since 2006, in addition to work at the school, Dr. McNutt has served as acting director of the University of Regina’s clean energy technologies institute.

Jeremy Rayner was named director of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy’s University of Saskatchewan campus. Dr. Rayner has taught, researched and served in administrative roles at Lakehead University, Vancouver Island University and University of Regina. In 2010, he joined the graduate school’s U of S campus as the centennial research chair. His appointment takes effect July 1 for a five-year term.

Ppl_June15_McMurray_David_146David McMurray was appointed to a second term as vice-president, student affairs, at Wilfrid Laurier University. Mr. McMurray joined WLU in 1997 as assistant vice-president, student services, and dean of students before being promoted in 2010. The five-year term begins July 1.

Andrew SimpsonOn June 12, Andrew Simpson becomes vice president, finance, at the University of British Columbia. Mr. Simpson joins UBC from New Zealand’s Victoria University of Wellington, where he has worked since 2009 as chief operating officer. He also served as vice-principal, operations and finance, at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, from 2003 to 2008 and was chief operating officer at the University of Waikato in New Zealand from 1997 to 2003, among other roles.

Ppl_June15_Kee_Kevin_146Kevin Kee becomes the new dean of arts at the University of Ottawa beginning Aug. 1. He comes to U of Ottawa from Brock University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Digital Humanities and is an associate professor of history and digital humanities. A former project director at the National Film Board and director of undergraduate programs at McGill University, he has been at Brock since 2005.

Ppl_June15_AnanyaMukherjeeReed_146Ananya Mukherjee-Reed has been named York University’s dean of the faculty of liberal arts and professional studies, starting July 1. From 2011 to 2014, Dr. Mukherjee-Reed served as chair of the department of political science and held the position of associate vice-president, research. She is currently assistant vice-president, research.

Ppl_June15_Kirchner_Joy_146Joy Kirchner was appointed university librarian at York University, effective July 1. Ms. Kirchner moves to York from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where she worked as associate university librarian for content and collections and interim associate university librarian for research and learning. She previously served in several positions at the University of British Columbia, including head of the UBC scholarly communications and copyright office.

bc2015In March, the University of the Fraser Valley hired Caleb Zimmerman as its new director of marketing and student recruitment. Mr. Zimmerman joins UFV from Trinity Western University, where he was director of communications. He was promoted to that role in 2013 after stints as senior communications specialist and associate director of communications.

Ppl_June15_LeeChin_Michael_146Michael Lee-Chin will serve as chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University for a second four-year term. Mr. Lee-Chin is the chairman of Portland Holdings Inc., a privately held equity investment company. Mr. Lee-Chin has been recognized by the Order of Jamaica, the Canadian Youth Business Foundation, and with honorary degrees from several universities.

Ppl_June15_Popovic_Celia_146Celia Popovic was named director of York University’s teaching commons in April. Dr. Popovic came to York in 2011 as an educational developer and was soon after promoted interim director of the teaching commons. Prior to that, she was head of educational cevelopment at Birmingham City University in England.

Ppl_June15_Mulroney_David_146David Mulroney was appointed president and vice-chancellor of the University of St Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. Professor Mulroney served as Canada’s ambassador to China from 2009 to 2012 and is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs. He takes office July 1.

Ppl_June15_Henry_Joseph_146Joseph Henry is the new dean of students at King’s University College at Western University, effective June 1. He was previously associate dean, student success and student services at Sheridan College in Toronto. He holds an M. Ed from OISE and is completing a Doctorate of Education at Northeastern University in Boston.

Ppl_June15_Okine_Erasmus_146The University of Lethbridge appointed Erasmus Okine vice-president, research, beginning July 1. Dr. Okine joins U of Lethbridge from the University of Alberta, where he served as chair of the department of agricultural, food and nutritional science and held the Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development Chair in Ruminant Nutrition and Metabolism.

Ppl_June15_Rajapakse_Nimal_146Carleton University appointed Nimal Rajapakse vice-president, research and international, starting Sept. 1. Dr. Rajapakse presently serves as dean of the faculty of applied sciences and is professor of engineering at Simon Fraser University. He was previously head of the department of civil engineering at the University of Manitoba, head of mechanical engineering and director of the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems at the University of British Columbia.

Ppl_June15_Geitmann_Anja_146Anja Geitmann was appointed dean of agricultural and environmental sciences at McGill University, as well as associate vice-principal of McGill’s Macdonald Campus. A cell biologist and professor in the department of biological sciences at Université de Montréal, she will take up her new duties in September. She is currently president of the Microscopical Society of Canada.

Ppl_May15_AnnSherman_146Ann Sherman was reappointed to a second term as dean of the faculty of education at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton. Before Dr. Sherman joined academia, she taught high school and elementary school for 13 years and was an elementary school administrator for three years.

Ppl_May15_MarioThomas_146Effective April 13, Mario Thomas became the inaugural CEO for the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph. Dr. Thomas joins the institute after 25 years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, where he worked in business development and commercialization. The BIO catalogues species using DNA barcoding and coordinates the International Barcode of Life project, which involves more than 1,000 researchers in 25 countries.

Ppl_May15_LauraMitchell_146Psychology professor Laura Mitchell became director of the student success centre at Concordia University on April 15. The new five-year appointment came about from a reorganization of student services at the university. Before joining Concordia, Dr. Mitchell was associate professor of psychology at Bishop’s University, where she contributed to the founding of the teaching and learning centre.

Ppl_May15_BarbDaigle_146The University of Northern British Columbia named Barb Daigle director of human resources, starting May 1. Ms. Daigle previously served as associate vice-president of human resources, wellness and safety at the University of Saskatchewan. She spent seven years at the University of Calgary as director of organization services, human resources, and also worked with the Government of Alberta and Foothills Provincial General Hospital.

Ppl_May15_CraigChamberlin_146Craig Chamberlin is the new president of Algoma University, effective July 1. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Chamberlin spent 13 years at the University of Regina, where he served, among other roles, as dean of kinesiology and health, and dean of the faculty of social work.

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