Thompson Rivers University has appointed Gillian Balfour as vice-president academic, effective July 1. Dr. Balfour was previously vice-president and academic dean of King’s University College, affiliated with Western University. She holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Manitoba, where she focused on critical socio-legal studies and feminist criminology. Dr. Balfour has also served as associate dean of teaching and learning at Trent University, where she taught sociology and was a member of a community organization that provides prison-based learning for incarcerated and non-incarcerated students.
Starting July 1, Shailoo Bedi will be the new executive director, division of learning and teaching support and innovation at the University of Victoria. Dr. Bedi previously served as director for the office of student and academic success, and has held a number of senior roles at UVic. She is an expert in instructional design and has a proven commitment to EDI, anti-racism, reconciliation and decolonization. Dr. Bedi holds a PhD in curriculum and instruction from UVic.
The University of Northern British Columbia has appointed Geoffrey Payne as the institution’s sixth president and vice-chancellor. Dr. Payne has served as UNBC’s interim president since February 2020, helping to guide the university through the COVID-19 pandemic and ratifying a collective agreement with the UNBC faculty association. He first came to UNBC in 2004 to teach physiology, following a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University in the department of cellular and molecular physiology and John B. Pierce Laboratory. Since then, he has held a variety of roles, including vice-president, research, and went on to be one of the founding faculty members of the northern medical program at UNBC. He holds a PhD in cardiovascular and renal physiology, a master’s of science in neuroscience and pharmacology, and a bachelor of science in behavioural neuroscience from Memorial University.