Vice-Provostial Appointments (PDAD&C #38)

Professor Sioban Nelson will be ending her terms as Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life and Vice-Provost, Academic Programs, on June 30, 2018. Professor Nelson has informed me that she does not wish to seek reappointment.

As Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life, Professor Nelson has undertaken a major overhaul of the academic human resources services provided to divisions, introducing efficiencies and service improvements across the portfolio. Working in collaboration with Deans and Chairs, she has developed a wide variety of innovative and effective programs to appoint, promote, and retain the best faculty from around the world. Under her leadership, the portfolio has become a global leader in understanding faculty diversity throughout the entire academic career path. And as Vice-Provost, Academic Programs, Professor Nelson has been a beacon of support and guidance across the divisions for academic policy changes, programming, and reviews. With Professor Nelson at the helm, the portfolio has excelled, weathering a recent provincial audit very successfully, in addition to taking on responsibility for graduate quality assurance and calendar production. In undertaking both of these roles at the same time, Professor Nelson has gone above and beyond in service to the University.

I am pleased to announce that the Executive Committee of the Governing Council has approved the following Vice-Provostial appointments, both beginning July 1, 2018:

• Professor Heather Boon as Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life (VP-FAL), for a five-year term.
• Professor Susan McCahan, as Vice-Provost, Academic Programs (VP-AP), for a two-year term. (The Executive Committee has also approved a six-month extension of her current role as Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education (VP-IUE), so that both terms will end on June 30, 2020.)

Professor Heather Boon is currently the Dean of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto. She is a licensed pharmacist and holds cross-appointments with the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Professor Boon has been an active member of the Faculty since 2001. Her research focuses on the safety and efficacy of natural health products, and related regulatory and policy issues. Her research has been supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the SickKids Foundation, and the National Centres of Excellence program, among others. Professor Boon has published more than 130 peer-reviewed articles, as well as numerous book chapters, policy reports, and textbooks. Professor Boon received her BScPhm and her PhD from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto.

Throughout her career, Professor Boon has held key administrative roles at U of T and in a variety of national and international associations. As the Dean of the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, Professor Boon has transformed the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, operationalizing the new Pharm.D. program, reviewing and restructuring the Faculty’s relationships with clinical supervisors and adjunct instructors, leading and implementing a new administrative structure, and developing and adopting a new academic plan entitled “2021 Forward Together.” Professor Boon has also implemented new activities and programs at the Faculty of Pharmacy to support teaching innovation, and has engaged faculty members in a more consultative and engaged culture. She has undertaken leadership at the University level as well, currently serving as Chair of the Council of Health Sciences.

Prior to serving as VP-IUE, Professor Susan McCahan was Vice-Dean, Undergraduate in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto. She joined the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at U of T in 1992, and served as Chair of First-Year for the Faculty (2006-2011) and as Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies, for the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering (2001-2004). As Associate Chair, she led the redesign of the undergraduate curriculum in the Mechanical & Industrial Engineering programs.

Professor McCahan has served as the President of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA). In 2007, she received a 3M National Teaching Fellowship Award and was part of the team in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering that received the Alan Blizzard Award for collaboration in teaching. She received the Faculty Teaching Award in 2000 and was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2006 for distinguished contributions and innovations in science and engineering education. Professor McCahan received the 2007 President’s Teaching Award, the University of Toronto’s highest teaching honour. Professor McCahan received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and her doctorate from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Having worked closely with Deans and divisions across our three campuses to assess and improve undergraduate education as VP-IUE, the addition of the VP-AP role to her portfolio positions Professor McCahan to continue her work in the re-examination and re-thinking of undergraduate education at the University of Toronto – in line with the President’s stated priorities – while also adding responsibility for academic quality assurance and curricular innovation across the entire University.

Please join me in congratulating Professors Boon and McCahan on their new roles, and wishing Professor Nelson the very best as she completes her current terms.