Important changes have occurred amongst top leadership positions in Canada’s universities.
Three positions have been filled within the last week: on January 21, Franco Vaccarino, current principal of U of T Scarborough and U of T vice-president, was appointed as the eighth president of the University of Guelph; on January 22; outgoing UBC president Stephen Toope was announced as the new director of U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs; and interim Arts & Science dean David Cameron, a political science professor, was appointed dean.
Dean of Arts & Science David Cameron. MEDIA PHOTO
Cameron had been interim dean since May 21, 2013. He is an expert on Canadian federalism, Quebec nationalism, and constitutional issues and has served the university in various administrative positions since 1985. Cameron has also acted as an advisor to governments in Canada and around the world — including the Government of Sri Lanka during the conflict with the Tamil Tigers.
Stephen Toope, outgoing UBC president and new Munk Centre director. MEDIA PHOTO
Toope, who will assume his new position January 1, 2015, has been president of UBC since 2006. He is a noted international law scholar, and represented Western Europe and North America in the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances from 2002 to 2007. He also served as dean of McGill University’s Faculty of Law from 1994 to 1999.
“We are delighted to have a scholar and academic leader of Professor Toope’s stature taking over as director at the Munk School,” said U of T president Meric Gertler, who served as dean of Arts & Science before assuming his current office.
“The Munk School has built a reputation around the world for its thoughtful and insightful examination of international issues,” said Toope. “I look forward to joining its outstanding researchers and students in working to understand and tackle global problems.”
Vaccarino was chosen as the University of Guelph’s president after an international search. He takes the lead of a university of some 20,000 students, and will begin his new role on August 15, 2014.
“He has an entrepreneurial spirit, a powerful sense of community, and a profound commitment to societal engagement. He clearly has what it takes to lead the University in the years to come,” said Dick Freeborough, chair of Guelph’s’s Presidential Selection Committee.
“I’m feeling very energized,” Vaccarino said. “These things are journeys. You go through your own professional and personal journey, and as you evolve, opportunities present themselves.”
Vaccarino earned his Bachelor of Science at U of T, and has worked at the university since 1984. In 2007 he was named UTSC principal, and the campus has grown in both size and reputation under his leadership. An extensively published researcher, he has received awards from leading Canadian scientific and research organizations, such as the Medical Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
With files from the Guelph Mercury.
