Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane has announced the appointment of Nancy Ross (Artsci'90, MA'92) as Vice-Principal (Research), following unanimous approval by the Board of Trustees.

Dr. Ross, who is currently the Associate Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation) at McGill University, will succeed Vice-Principal (Research) Kimberly Woodhouse, who has been interim in the role since 2018.

"On behalf of our entire university community, I am delighted to welcome Dr. Ross to her new role at Queen’s, where her experience as an administrator and researcher will be critical," says Patrick Deane, Principal and Vice-Chancellor. "Dr. Ross has an excellent reputation within the research community, and that will be invaluable as we embark upon an ambitious new strategy. I am looking forward to working with her to advance the university’s research mission."

A recognized expert in population health, Dr. Ross is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, a member of the Department of Geography, and an associate member of the Departments of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health and Epidemiology at McGill University. A social scientist by training, her award-winning interdisciplinary research has been funded mainly by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and she is past Editor-in-chief of Health Reports, Canada’s flagship population health journal.

A proud Queen’s alumna, Dr. Ross received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees in Geography. Dr. Ross obtained her PhD in Geography from McMaster University and subsequently worked as a Senior Research Scientist with Statistics Canada, including as postdoctoral fellow with the Population Health Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). She joined McGill’s faculty in 2001.

As McGill’s Associate Vice-Principal (Research and Innovation) since 2016, Dr. Ross has advanced the institution’s research enterprise by providing strategic advice and counsel to the McGill community. These activities include mentoring researchers during the development of grant applications, leading the implementation of programs designed to increase success in research funding and research intensity, and developing proposals for strategic business and corporate or institutional partnerships worldwide. She also oversaw university-wide efforts to generate and support nominations of McGill researchers for major national and international prizes and awards.

"I am very excited to be joining Queen’s at this juncture of momentum-building," says Dr. Ross. "Queen’s, like McGill, is a U15 member and one of Canada’s most research-intensive universities, playing an integral role in the fabric of the nation’s research landscape. I look forward to partnering with the Queen’s research community to garner an understanding of its strengths and aspirations and, together, working to advance the university’s research mission."

Dr. Ross will join Queen’s senior administrative team and will oversee the Vice-Principal (Research) portfolio, which includes University Research Services, Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation, and oversight of university-based Research Centres and Institutes. A member of the U15 group of Canada’s research-intensive university, Queen’s is home to 51 Canada Research Chairs, including a Canada 150 Research Chair, and attracts approximately $200 million in research income per annum. Queen’s is also home to Arthur McDonald, the co-recipient of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics, and a world-leading particle astrophysics research institute named in his honour. The university fosters a dynamic, welcoming, and collaborative environment of focused inquiry where scientists, artists, and scholars across disciplines share ideas and challenge the boundaries of what is known and understood to effect change.

Dr. Ross will begin her five-year term as Vice-Principal (Research) on August 1, 2021. She will be a faculty member in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Advisory Selection Committee:

The search for Queen’s University’s next Vice-Principal (Research) was conducted by an advisory selection committee chaired by Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane. In recognition of the importance of the role of research in all academic disciplines, the committee included representation from faculties across the university.