Call for Nominations and Applications – Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute and the Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology & Society

From: Vivek Goel, Vice-President, Research & Innovation
Cheryl Regehr, Vice-President & Provost
Date: April 22, 2019
Re: Call for Nominations & Applications – Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute and the Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology & Society

We are pleased to invite nominations and applications for the Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute and the Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology & Society, an ambitious interdisciplinary initiative to address the ethical and philosophical questions that technological advances raise for our future.

The mandate of Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society is to harness strengths across disciplines in order to transform thinking around how society, humanity and technology interact and how we might shape technology to provide more inclusive economic and social outcomes for citizens. Its establishment is rooted in the University’s legacy of scholarship that analyzes the relationships between technology, human cultures and society, such as the ground breaking work of Marshall McLuhan, Harold Innis, and Northrop Frye.

Together with our partners, U of T constitutes one of the world’s strongest clusters in a broad range of subjects such as interdisciplinary humanities research, philosophy, ethics, law, social sciences, data sciences, medicine, biomedical engineering, artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced materials, cybersecurity and fintech. As the largest driver of innovation in Canada, the University of Toronto draws on its powerful constellation of assets to bring unique and globally relevant ideas to the world. The University’s broad network includes the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) nine fully affiliated research and teaching hospitals, MaRS, and the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. The Schwartz Reisman Institute is enabled by a transformative philanthropic gift that allows the University to deliver new programs building on years of support for our scholars from federal granting councils, the Ontario Government, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Canada Research Chairs program.

The Schwartz Reisman Institute’s ambitious goal requires commitment, energy and exceptional leadership. As its academic leader, the Director Schwartz Reisman Institute and Schwartz Reisman Chair in Technology & Society will help drive a collaborative research program with accountability to a steering committee composed of Vice-Presidents and Deans. Core duties include leadership in cross-divisional and interdisciplinary partnerships and collaborations, program seeding and delivery, theme leader and fellow recruitment, knowledge mobilization and external relations, and operational and financial stewardship. Appointment as the Director and Chair will be for a five-year term.  

As the ideal candidate, the Director and Chair will have a reputation befitting a researcher of global renown, personifying collaboration and excellence in scholarship, and bringing to the Institute a record of research leadership in environments that span disciplines. Reporting to a Steering Committee appointed by the President, the Director and Chair will provide leadership, mentorship and inspiration for all activities focused on the overarching mandate of technology, humanity and society. They will offer a vision for developing related research and programming, including opportunities for education, training and community engagement, working closely with the Schwartz Reisman Theme Leaders and Schwartz Reisman Fellows and with a broad range of affiliated scholars across the University who are working in relevant areas of study. The Director and Chair will be a highly skilled relationship builder, a gifted communicator and a respected representative for scholarly excellence who works exceptionally well with all stakeholders, including researchers in a range of disciplines, institutional leaders, government agencies, donors and the general public.

For further information, nominations and/or applications, please contact Helen Lasthiotakis, Executive Director, Strategic Partnerships, Office of the Vice-President, Research & Innovation, University of Toronto at 416-978-6475 / vpri.search@utoronto.ca. Interested candidates should send their curriculum vitae and cover letter to us at vpri.search@utoronto.ca  by May 15, 2019.