Just days after releasing post-secondary students from the clutches of winter term final exams, Ottawa’s Carleton University announced Tuesday that it has appointed teacher and cognitive neuroscience researcher Benoit-Antoine Bacon as its newest president and vice-chancellor.
Carleton has poached Bacon from Queen’s University in Kingston, where he currently serves as provost and vice-principal, as well as chief academic, budget, and operating officer.
Bacon will be Carleton’s 15th president, replacing interim president Alastair Summerlee. Bacon’s five-year term begins July 1.
“He is an experienced leader, having worked positions of progressive responsibility at other outstanding universities,” said Chris Carruthers, chair of Carleton’s board of governors, in a university news release. “As Carleton positions itself to respond to a changing university sector and increased competition, Benoit will play a critical leadership role in leading the organization and supporting our students, faculty and staff.”
“On behalf of the Board, I would like to congratulate Benoit and welcome him to the Carleton community.”
Bacon, who hails from Montreal, has a history of holding top positions at other Canadian universities. Before moving to Queen’s, he was provost and vice-president of academic affairs at Concordia University, according to Carleton’s news release.
Prior to that, he served in several leadership roles at Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Que., including dean of arts and science, associate vice-principal for research, chair of the psychology department and chief negotiator for the university’s association of professors.
Bacon holds a PhD in neuropsychology from Université de Montréal and pursued an NSERC-funded post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, the release also noted.
News of Bacon’s appointment comes on the heels of a contentious, month-long strike at the Ottawa-based university. The dispute, primarily about pensions, pitted more than 850 administrative, technical, and library workers against Carleton’s top brass.
CUPE Local 2424 and Carleton reached a tentative deal to end the strike on April 2. The union ratified the deal the next day.
The conflict was a flashpoint in Summerlee’s short term. His appointment as interim president was announced last May, before former president Roseann O’Reilly Runte officially stepped down after nearly a decade in the role.
READ MORE: Carleton University reaches tentative agreement to end strike
Carleton University said Bacon was selected for the top position after an international search process that “engaged hundreds of internal and external constituents” at Carleton and in the Ottawa community.
“It is a great honour to be selected as the 15th president of Carleton University,” Bacon said in the release. “I look forward to working with the whole community to leverage Carleton’s many outstanding strengths and to further enhance the institution’s relevance and impact nationally and internationally.”
In a tweet on Tuesday, Queen’s University said Bacon will step down as the Kingston school’s provost at the end of June.
Following Carleton’s announcement, several well-known voices in the Ottawa community congratulated Bacon on social media, including Summerlee, University of Ottawa President Jacques Frémont and Ottawa Centre MP Catherine McKenna’s community office.
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