Patrick Deane reappointed to second term as McMaster’s President
In unanimous decisions, McMaster University’s Senate and Board of Governors have voted to reappoint Patrick Deane as McMaster’s President and Vice-Chancellor for a second five-year term.
“Patrick has done a tremendous job guiding the University over the past four years,” said Board Chair Dave Lazzarato, who chaired the selection committee. “He has provided leadership and a vision that has given people in every part of the University the encouragement to enhance the fundamental teaching, learning and research strengths of the University. The committee to recommend a president was united in its support for Patrick as a highly respected leader with a passion for higher education who has also been successful in reinforcing integrity and collegiality as the fundamental values of the University.”
The committee held its first meeting in late May. It then solicited input from across the University, including faculty, students, alumni and retirees. All members of the University community were encouraged to participate in the process by submitting their thoughts in writing to the committee, which wanted to ensure that its work considered all of McMaster’s diverse stakeholders.
“It has been an honour to serve McMaster over the past four years,” said Deane. “It has been a privilege to get to know many of our remarkable students, learn about our research success, international work and creative approaches to teaching undertaken by faculty members, and see every day the incredible commitment our staff have to the University. Likewise, the donors, alumni and friends of the University provide ongoing inspiration. McMaster has a bright and exciting future and I am proud to play a part in continuing to help guide the University to even greater success.
“The past four years have seen us make excellent progress on enhancements to the learning experience, and I know that momentum will carry us forward to further exciting changes and innovations that will make our students’ experience the envy of their peers anywhere. We have also broadened and strengthened our engagement with the community here in Hamilton, and I look forward to further intensifying this mutually enriching partnership within Hamilton and beyond. The University is certainly a place of learning, and it undoubtedly exists to serve society. But it is also importantly a place of research and discovery, and over the next six years the advancement and support of research will be a key priority. McMaster’s position as a highly-respected research-intensive institution and a pillar of research excellence is confirmed once again by the recently-released international rankings. Impressive as our position amongst the top research institutions in the world undoubtedly is, I think we can be even more ambitious and it will be a priority for me to see our standing rise even further.”
The process to appoint a president is guided by the McMaster University Act and the By-laws of the Senate and Board of Governors. The committee is made up of five Senate nominees and five Board members. The committee membership can be found here.
Patrick Deane completes his first five-year tenure as president and vice-chancellor on June 30, 2015. His second term will run from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2020.
