Principal Daniel Woolf announced today the appointment of Tom Harris as interim provost and vice-principal (Academic), effective July 1, 2018.

Dr. Harris will move to the role from his current position as vice-principal (Advancement). He will succeed Provost Benoit-Antoine Bacon who announced earlier this week his upcoming departure from the university to become the president and vice-chancellor of Carleton University in Ottawa this summer.

“Vice-Principal Harris is an experienced and knowledgeable senior leader who will provide continuity on the university executive team and ensure progress on the many strategic priorities being implemented by the provost’s office,” says Principal Woolf. “These include such important initiatives as enhancing indigeneity, diversity and inclusion on campus, supporting the hiring of 200 new faculty over five years as part of faculty renewal, implementing our internationalization strategy, promoting research and innovation, and completing the $100 million Innovation and Wellness Centre.”

Last summer, Vice-Principal Harris announced he would be stepping down as head of Advancement at the end of June 2018. His new appointment will see him stay on the university’s executive team until a new provost is recruited, following a search process that will include the university’s next principal.

“The leadership at Queen’s is strong and committed to driving progress on our strategic directions. I’m looking forward to working closely with people across the university as interim provost and vice-principal (Academic),” says Vice-Principal Harris.

Vice-Principal Harris has deep roots at Queen’s. He graduated from the university with a Bachelor of Science in 1975 and returned in 1986 as a faculty member and Queen’s National Scholar in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He was department head before serving as dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science from 1996 to 2007. He then became vice-principal (Advancement) in 2010 and successfully led the Initiative Campaign, with benefactors contributing $640 million for a range of university priorities, well over the original target of $500 million.

Vice-Principal Harris is also an internationally-recognized researcher for his work in mathematical modelling and applications of statistics in chemical engineering. He is a fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada and Canadian Academy of Engineering and received the Golden Apple from the Queen’s Engineering Society for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Dr. Harris will be succeeded on July 1 as vice-principal (Advancement) by Karen Bertrand, who is joining Queen’s from Guelph University where she is associate vice-president, Major Gift Advancement, as previously announced.