Masi, four Deans reappointed
By McGill Reporter Staff
Prof. Daniel Jutras, who has served as principal secretary to the highest judge in the country, has been named Dean of the Faculty of Law for a six-year term. Jutras replaced Nicholas Kasirer, who left the faculty to assume a seat on Quebec’s Court of Appeal, the province’s highest court.
Jutras’s term begins March 1.
On top of the Jutras appointment, McGill’s Board of Governors also approved the reappointment of Provost Anthony Masi and four current Deans.
Jutras has built a distinguished career as a legal scholar and teacher in civil and comparative law, and in the law of obligations from a trans-systemic perspective since joining McGill 25 years ago.
From 2002 to 2004, he was on leave from the faculty, and acted as principal secretary to Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, in the position of Executive Legal Officer of the Supreme Court of Canada. He is a former Director of the Institute of Comparative Law and has served as Associate Dean (Admissions and Placement), and Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Law.
He has been interim Dean since July 1.
“Daniel Jutras has been an exemplary member of the Faculty of Law as an esteemed educator, distinguished scholar and accomplished academic administrator since he joined McGill in 1985,”said Principal Heather Munroe-Blum. “We know that the faculty will continue to excel under his exceptional leadership.”
Second mandate for Masi
In reappointing Masi, the Board of Governors gave the Provost a second five-year term. As Provost, the University’s Chief Academic Officer after the Principal, Masi oversees the strategies, planning, development, implementation and assessment of all academic priorities, policies and programs. He is also responsible for the development of the overall budget and for the allocation of funds and other resources in alignment with and support of the University’s academic priorities.
“Professor Masi has done an outstanding job of enhancing McGill’s commitment to academic excellence while adhering to a sound, disciplined budgetary framework,” Munroe-Blum said. “He has helped reinforce McGill’s place among the world’s leading universities, guided by the priorities and goals set out in the 2006 White Paper that he authored following an extensive planning exercise conducted with the Deans and other academic leaders of the University.”
Masi’s new five-year term begins on July 1, 2010.
Four Deans back on board
In addition, the Board gave four acting Deans second mandates. Martin Grant (Faculty of Science), Chandra Madramootoo (Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences), and Christophe Pierre (Faculty of Engineering), each were reappointed for five-year terms, while Peter Todd (Desautels Faculty of Management) was given a six-year term. All renewals begin July 1.
Joining McGill in 1986, Grant became a James McGill Professor known for his research into the formation and properties of complex structures, such as crystals and flames. Before becoming Dean in June 2005, he served as Chair of the Department of Physics, Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science, and Director of the Centre for the Physics of Materials. Under his leadership the Faculty of Science has made significant progress in its pedagogical programs, its research agenda, and in the provision of student services and integrated educational research experiences.
Like his colleague at the Faculty of Science, Madramootoo is in his third decade of service at McGill. Beginning at Macdonald Campus in 1984 as a lecturer in agricultural engineering, he went on to become a James McGill Professor and founding director of the Brace Centre for Water Resources Management. Appointed Dean in August 2005, he has been the driving force behind the McGill Conference on Global Food Security, devoted to finding solutions to the issues contributing to malnutrition among nearly 1 billion people around the world.
A relative newcomer to McGill, Pierre joined the Faculty of Engineering as Dean in July 2005. That same year, he received the N.O. Myklestad Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in recognition of his major, innovative contribution to vibration localization. Pierre’s discoveries are being applied to enhance performance and safety in products such as jet engines and automobile vehicle structures, where vibration and other stresses can cause material deformation and fatigue, potentially leading to catastrophic component failure. Pierre has served as project director of multi-million-dollar National Science Foundation programs to increase the participation of minorities and women in graduate programs and the professoriate in the engineering and science disciplines.
Under the leadership of Todd, the Desautels Faculty of Management has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past few years, introducing innovative new programs that push the boundaries of business education. The new integrated core curriculum for MBA students represents one of the first initiatives to fully integrate teaching, research and practical experience into student learning. The Faculty also launched a new bilingual Executive MBA program, offered jointly with HEC Montréal. Todd became a James McGill Professor and Dean of McGill’s Faculty of Management in July 2005.
McLean, Roy step down
By McGill Reporter Staff
Don McLean, Dean of the Schulich School of Music, will leave McGill to take the position as Dean of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto.
In praising McLean’s “outstanding service to the Schulich School and to McGill,” Provost Anthony Masi listed the many accomplishments of the departing Dean. “Over the last decade, Dean McLean has led the transformation of the Faculty of Music into the Schulich School of Music, overseen the construction of the marvellous New Music Building on Sherbrooke St., pioneered strong working relationships between the Schulich School and cultural institutions like the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, managed the process of significant program reviews and curricular changes, and forged strong research links within the
School as well as with other Faculties, including the creation of a multidisciplinary and inter-university centre for research on music and technology,” Masi said.
McLean has been invited to preside over the convocation ceremony for Music on June 4, which will be his last official duty as Dean.
Finally, François R. Roy, Vice-Principal, Administration and Finance, has informed the university of his intention to leave his position, effective April 15.
“Vice-Principal Roy has contributed significantly during his term in important areas including a focused effort to advance the management of financial, investment and property matters at the University,” said Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum, who added that Secretary-General Stephen Strople will immediately establish an Advisory Committee for the selection of a new Vice-Principal.