Appointment of Professor Kent Moore as Vice-Principal, Research, and Professor Alexandra Gillespie as Special Advisor, University of Toronto Mississauga (PDAD&C #99)

I am delighted to provide two announcements about the support of research the University of Toronto Mississauga continues to build.

It is my great pleasure to share with you that Professor Kent Moore from the Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences will be UTM’s new Vice-Principal, Research. Professor Moore has held a number of relevant administrative roles, including Chair (2006-2008), Interim Chair (2005-2006), and Associate Chair (2003-2005) of the Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences. Prior to these positions, Professor Moore also served as Associate Dean (Sciences) in the Faculty of Arts & Science (1997-2000). Professor Moore has been active in numerous international collaborations in the area of investigating climate change. Professor Moore uses theoretical, computational, and observational techniques to understand the dynamics of the climate system so as to improve the ability to place currently observed changes to the climate in a long-term context. Professor Moore also applies these same techniques to the study of the meteorology of mountainous areas of the Earth as well as the impact that weather in these areas has on human physiology and performance. In 2017, he spent half a year as the Visiting Fulbright Chair in Arctic Science in the Department of Atmospheric Science at the University of Washington. Beyond his administrative roles, Professor Moore has managed major academic research grants with multiple partners and is well-versed in the development and support of research clusters. He is also an entrepreneur and has been involved in start-ups and investments. Professor Moore’s three-year term will begin on July 1, 2018.

I am also very pleased to announce that Professor Alexandra Gillespie has accepted an appointment to be Special Advisor to support research initiatives at UTM for a term that matches that of Professor Moore. The incoming Vice-Principal, Research brings a research culture from the sciences to the portfolio that will be wonderfully complemented by Professor Gillespie’s focus of research development from the perspective of the humanities and interpretive social sciences. The Special Advisor will provide active promotion and development of research opportunities within the community with a focus on the humanities and interpretive social sciences. This will include emphasis to rally clusters of faculty with aligned research interests to build proposals. Such proposals will be directed to external funding agencies, and also to the Vice-Principal, Research for internal seed funding and potentially for consideration of academic structural accommodations such as the formation of formally constituted Centres. The Special Advisor will work directly with the Vice-Principal, Research and the Office of Research staff. The Special Advisor will retain a reporting relationship with myself so that I can incorporate proposals into the global UTM strategy and into advancement initiatives.

I will take this opportunity to offer my sincere thanks to the outgoing Vice-Principal, Research, Professor Bryan Stewart, for his excellent service to the UTM community. Professor Stewart has accomplished a great deal during his 5-year term. He has developed the Research Council that has represented the community very well. He has contributed substantially to the writing of major research proposals in the sciences to agencies such as the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Canada 150 Chairs program. He has created numerous support programs such as the Research and Scholarly Activity Fund, the Outreach Conference and Colloquium Fund, Research Planning Grants, and the Bridge Funding Program. Communication about research has seen the development of the quarterly Surge newsletter and new initiatives such as the View to the U Podcasts created by Carla DeMarco. There are now many events such as the Smarti Gras celebration of undergraduate student research; the Celebration of Books offered in partnership with the Library to showcase published books by UTM authors; the UTM Research Excellence Lectureship delivered by the Research Excellence Prize winner; the UTM Annual Research Prize Symposium with presentations by the Annual Research Prize winners; and, the Graduate Student Research Colloquium that is offered in partnership with the Office of the Vice-Principal, Academic & Dean. It is clear that Professor Stewart leaves the portfolio in a much better position than it was received and I am very grateful for his dedication and many contributions.