New Provost Appointed at Queen’s University

Published on: 2011/03/07 - in Releases

Economist Alan Harrison will become Queen’s next Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic), effective August 1, 2011.

Dr. Harrison is currently Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Calgary, a position he has held since 2006. Prior to joining the University of Calgary, he was Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at Carleton University. Before Carleton, he held a variety of positions at McMaster University, including Dean of Social Sciences and Chair of the Department of Economics. He is a PhD graduate of the University of Essex in England and an accomplished teacher and researcher. He spent a year at Queen’s in the mid 1970s in the Department of Economics.

“I am thrilled to welcome Alan back to Queen’s,” says Principal Woolf. “I’ve known him since we were colleague Deans at McMaster, and I have the highest respect for his expertise and achievements. As an administrator, he brings a wealth of experience with all the facets of a provost’s job from academic leadership to budget development. He is a perfect fit for Queen’s at this juncture in our history and a great match with the rest of our senior administrative team.”

Dr. Harrison plans to visit the campus over the next several months to meet with outgoing Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Robert Silverman, whose term will end July 31, as well as Queen’s administrators, faculty, staff and students.

“I have held Queen’s in high regard ever since I was a visiting assistant professor there, and I feel honoured and privileged to be selected as the University’s next provost,” says Dr. Harrison. “I am very much looking forward to working with everyone at Queen’s. These are challenging times for universities, but the high quality of Queen’s students, staff and faculty makes me confident that we are well positioned to meet the challenges.”

The Board of Trustees made the appointment at its weekend meeting, on the recommendation of the Principal, who chaired an Advisory Selection Committee.

“I want to thank the committee members – faculty, staff and students – who worked hard over several months on the process leading to Dr Harrison’s appointment,” the Principal says.

The members of the committee are: Toby Abramsky, Trustee, Irène Bujara, University Advisor on Equity, Safiah Chowdhury, President, Alma Mater Society, Caroline Davis, Vice-Principal Finance and Administration, Rosemary Jolly, professor, Department of English, Irene LaFlèche, senator and staff member in the School of Computing (elected by Senate), Leila Notash, senator and professor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (elected by Senate), Susan Marlin, Associate Vice-Principal (Research), Alistair MacLean, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science, Kathy O’Brien, Director, Office of the Provost, Jawad Qureshy, President, Society of Graduate and Professional Students, Sally Rigden, Special Assistant, Principal’s Office (Secretary), Haotian Wang, senator, Engineering and Applied Science student (elected by Senate).

“Provost Silverman has been doing a tremendous job in reorganizing the Office of the Vice-Principal (Academic) into a fully operational Provost office,” says Principal Woolf. “Alan will inherit a strong office and team when he takes over in August.”

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Release source: Queen’s University | Photo: University of Calgary