Appointment of Professor Joshua Barker as Dean, School of Graduate Studies and Vice-Provost, Graduate Research & Education (PDAD&C #121)

I am pleased to announce that the Agenda Committee of Academic Board has approved of the appointment of Professor Joshua Barker as Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and the Executive Committee of Governing Council has approved of his appointment as Vice-Provost of Graduate Research & Education for a five-year term, beginning July 1, 2017. Professor Barker will transition into the role over the coming months, taking over from Professor Locke Rowe.

Professor Barker’s broad base of experience of graduate matters and strong appreciation for U of T’s varied graduate landscape will greatly benefit the SGS community. As Vice-Dean, he consulted widely with students and faculty and developed a two-pronged strategy to improve graduate student experience. This entailed increasing graduate student funding over three years and establishing the Milestones and Pathway Program, which provides support for discipline-specific graduate student professional development.

Professor Barker has held several consecutive academic leadership positions in the Faculty of Arts & Science, including his current role as Vice-Dean of Graduate Education and Program Reviews, and previous roles as Director of the Asian Institute and Acting Chair of the Department of Anthropology. These positions have afforded him a range of experiences with graduate education as well as the ability to identify and address challenges that were common to many graduate units in the Faculty of Arts & Science. He has also played a key role in the multi-divisional initiative to establish a new School of Cities.

Barker’s research areas include urban anthropology, science and technology studies, and political anthropology. His research focuses primarily on Indonesia, where he has conducted ethnographic field research on a range of groups, including: the police and civilian guards; information technology engineers and entrepreneurs; and city-level journalists. Professor Barker received a PhD from Cornell University, an MA from SOAS University of London, and a BA from Trent University.

Please join me in welcoming Professor Barker in his new role.