Reappointment of Professor Scott Mabury as Vice-President, University Operations and Vice-Provost, Academic Operations (PDAD&C #42)

I am pleased to announce that the Governing Council has approved the reappointment of Professor Scott Mabury as Vice-President, University Operations and Vice-Provost, Academic Operations for a five-year term effective January 1, 2017 and continuing until December 31, 2021.

Professor Mabury was first appointed to the newly-created position of Vice-President, University Operations in January 1, 2012. At that time he was serving as Vice-Provost, Academic Operations. He has since held the two positions concurrently.

As the Vice-President, University Operations, Professor Mabury will continue to have tri-campus oversight of matters pertaining to space, including planning and capital projects, and information technology infrastructure and services, as well as St. George campus oversight of facilities, operations, and ancillary services. In his capacity as Vice-Provost, Academic Operations, Professor Mabury will continue to support the work of the Vice-President & Provost in her capacity as the University’s Chief Budget Officer. To this end, the Office of Planning and Budget will continue to have a dual report to the Vice-President & Provost and to the Vice-Provost, Academic Operations, with the reporting to the Vice-President & Provost now clarified as a solid-line relationship. Professor Mabury will also continue to work collaboratively with the Provost to support her leadership on matters pertaining to information technology policy. Furthermore, he will support the President, working in tandem with the Provost, to oversee the annual Divisional Advisory Committee process, whose mandate is to provide advice to the President with respect to budget plans for shared-service divisions.

When the University Operations portfolio was established in 2011, the goal was to foster closer alignment of University operations with the academic mission of the University. Professor Mabury has been exceptionally effective in achieving that goal, ensuring that all services, not just those with direct connection to academic activity, are consistently driven by the University’s mission of knowledge creation, teaching, and community service.

Under Professor Mabury’s leadership, the University Operations portfolio has executed on an impressive number of major initiatives across a wide spectrum of activity. His mantra has been ‘out-of-the-box thinking with off-the-shelf practicality’. Highlights of these activities and initiatives include: the creation of the Utilities Revolving Fund (URRF), which has resulted in annual savings for many divisions by reducing energy use; the creation of the Major Research Projects Management Fund (MRPM) to enhance the competitiveness of tri-council partnership grant proposals; the creation of entrepreneurship space in the Banting & Best Buildings; the acquisition of a 20% equity stake in the MaRS Phase 2 Science Building and finalized leasing details for four floors; the upgrade of the student information system, NGSIS-Acorn project; revisions to the Policy on Capital Projects and related revisions to the governance process; the launch in 2012 of the six-year $50M Operational Excellence Target, and the development of an innovative new approach for financing and building student residences. Professor Mabury has demonstrated a tremendous capacity to improve the work of the University while at the same time exercising prudent management of our limited resources.

Professor Mabury holds a PhD in Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry from the University of California, Davis. He first joined the University of Toronto in 1995 as the first faculty member in environmental chemistry and later helped lead the creation of undergraduate and graduate programs in this sub-discipline. Professor Mabury served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 2003 until 2009. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and his current research interests are in the areas of environmental photochemistry and fluorinated organic chemicals. He and his group have written extensively on the environmental fate, disposition, and persistence of fluorinated agrochemicals, industrial chemicals, and pharmaceuticals, publishing over 190 scientific papers in refereed journals; over 30 PhD and MSc students have graduated from his group. Professor Mabury has presented his research at conferences, workshops, and has given invited seminars all over the world. He is one of the most highly cited scholars in his field, and has been awarded an OCUFA Teaching Award and the CIC Environment R&D Award. I hope you will join me in congratulating Professor Mabury on his reappointment.

Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Advisory Committee for their contributions to the review of the University Operations portfolio and for their thoughtful advice and guidance.