Finding new opportunities and solutions are just two of the strengths of McMaster’s newly appointed provost and vice-president, Academic. Susan Tighe is joining McMaster from the University of Waterloo where she has been the deputy provost and associate vice-president integrated planning and budgeting since 2017.

“This is an important and exciting appointment,” said McMaster president David Farrar.  “McMaster is ambitious in both teaching and research. Dr. Tighe is a dynamic and thoughtful leader who will help the university deliver innovative academic programs.  She is committed to inclusive excellence and to supporting faculty, students and staff across the entire campus so together we can build on our university’s history of innovation and advance our academic mission.”

The unanimous recommendation from the search committee has now been approved by both the Senate and the Board of Governors.

“I can’t wait to get started,” said Tighe.  “McMaster is an outstanding institution in its history, its world class teaching and research and in its values and principles.  My focus will be on working with the Faculties, programs and support units across the university to deliver the highest possible quality of learning and student experience.  That means both cultivating and nurturing ideas and finding the resources to make them come to life as we continue to advance human and societal health and well-being.”

Tighe is a civil engineer earning her BASc in Chemical Engineering from Queen’s University and her MASc Civil Engineering and PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo. She has been a Professional Engineer since 1995 and has been a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Waterloo since 2000.  She holds the Norman W. McLeod Endowed Chair in Sustainable Pavement Engineering, has gained national and international recognition for her outstanding contributions to the development, design, and management of sustainable concrete and asphalt transportation infrastructure including Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, New College of Scholars Royal Society of Canada, Fellow Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers Medal for Research and Development. She is the past president of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering. She has successfully completed over 80 graduate students since starting at the University of Waterloo in 2000 and in 2017 received the University of Waterloo Graduate Supervision Award.

In her current role she is responsible for implementing Waterloo’s activity based budget model, academic planning, allocation and leveraging of resources for university-wide initiatives, making diversity and equity inclusion a priority at the university, space planning and she also leads an initiative to develop innovative learning space throughout campus.

Tighe officially starts her new role at McMaster on July 1^st.