MONTREAL – McGill University’s selection for a new principal clearly illustrates two important priorities for the university: the French environment it inhabits and the emphasis on research in a competitive academic world.
Suzanne Fortier will be McGill’s first francophone principal. A distinguished scientist and academic, she also served most recently as the president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada in Ottawa.
Selected unanimously by the board of governors, she will begin her five-year term in early September.
Fortier is a graduate of McGill, where she received a BSc and a PhD.
Kip Cobbett, chair of McGill’s board of governors, describes her as having “the whole package.”
While the university wasn’t necessarily seeking a francophone leader, it did want someone bilingual, he said. Fortier had an outstanding background as an academic administrator, as well as excellent hands-on experience in the world of research. She proved to be irresistible to McGill.
“Obviously research is very important to McGill,” said Cobbett. But he said the board was also swayed by “the passion she has for McGill.”
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He said she was never deterred by the university’s dire financial situation, made worse when the government announced unexpected budget cuts of about $19 million in December.
“She knows the situation exactly,” Cobbett said.
In fact, he said one of her first priorities is to strengthen McGill’s relationships within Quebec, to make the university more “approachable.”
“It is of special significance that she is returning to her alma mater after having built an exceptional career on a national and international scale,” he said. “Her strong track record in fostering outstanding programs of teaching, scholarship and research will serve McGill and its mission superbly.”
Haley Dinel, vice-president of university affairs of the Students’ Society of McGill University and a member of the advisory committee assisting in the search, also welcomed Fortier.
“She will be great for McGill because of her extensive experience, leadership abilities and love for McGill,” said Dinel.
Fortier has also served as an associate dean of graduate studies and research, and vice-principal (academic) at Queen’s University, where she was also a professor of chemistry.
Heather Munroe-Blum’s second and final term concludes on June 30, 2013. Fortier is complying with the transition period that must occur between her departure from NSERC and her new opportunity at McGill, in accordance with the Conflict of Interest Act and the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. An Interim Principal will be appointed to serve from July to September.
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