About the Principal

Patrick Deane became the 21st Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University on July 1, 2019.

Dr. Deane is the former President and Vice-Chancellor of McMaster University, a position he held for nine years. Prior to that he served as Vice-Principal (Academic) at Queen's and also held a number of academic administrative appointments at Western University and the University of Winnipeg.

Dr. Deane is a Professor of English Literature, with his principal research focus being the relationship between cultural production and British politics in the first half of the Twentieth Century.

He read English and Law at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, before undertaking graduate studies and receiving both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English Literature from Western University.

Dr. Deane was the first recipient of the John Charles Polanyi Prize for Literature in 1988, and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.  

He is President of the Governing Council of the Magna Charta Observatory, a member of the Board of Directors of Providence Care and a member of the Campaign Cabinet for the United Way of Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington.