Provost Trevor Young

Professor Linda Johnston, a renowned nursing researcher and institutional leader, has been appointed vice-president, University of Toronto, and principal, �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough for a five-year term.

The Governing Council approved the appointment at a meeting on June 27. Effective July 1, 2024, Johnston’s appointment will run until December 31, 2029, and includes a six-month administrative leave.

A professor in the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, Johnston has been serving as acting �鶹��Ƶ vice-president and principal of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough since January 1, 2024, during which time she has won the respect and support of the campus’s leadership team and broader community.

“Professor Johnston has demonstrated a genuine passion for and dedication to �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough,” President Meric Gertler said. “She brings a depth of experience to this important role and is committed to implementing and building on the clear vision established by the �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough community under the leadership of outgoing Vice-President and Principal Wisdom Tettey.

“I’m delighted to welcome her to the vice-presidential team.”

Johnston said she has a deep appreciation for the comprehensive nature of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough and is looking forward to continuing to work closely with the UTSC community.

“I have been tremendously impressed by the scale and rigour of �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough’s academic mission and the commitment to student success,” Johnston said.

“�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough continues to advocate for, and achieve, the goals of promoting health and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and inclusive excellence in teaching and learning; research prominence; and community engagement.”

Johnston has also been highly engaged in the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health, which is slated to launch in 2026 and will play an important role in helping to build better and more inclusive health care in Scarborough and eastern Toronto, said Vice-President and Provost Trevor Young.

Young pointed out that, during her tenure as dean of the Faculty of Nursing from August 2014 to December 2023, Johnston fostered and promoted excellence at all levels of the faculty, which currently ranks first in Canada and fifth in the world in the QS University Rankings by Subject.

“Professor Johnston also positioned the Faculty of Nursing as a central player in Toronto’s Academic Health Science Network, created new collaborations with our partner hospitals and cultivated international partnerships with peer institutions,” Young said.

Johnston previously led the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University Belfast, where she significantly enhanced teaching quality, research output and international partnerships. She is globally recognized for her contributions to nursing and patient care and holds honorary and visiting professorships at top institutions in Australia, China and Hong Kong.

She earned her PhD and bachelor of science from the University of Sydney. She completed her undergraduate nursing education in the United States and has extensive experience working in neonatal intensive care in the U.S., Australia and the Middle East.

Johnston will be taking a planned leave from July 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2024, during which time Professor Bill Gough will serve as acting vice-president, �鶹��Ƶ, and principal, �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough. He currently serves as acting vice-principal, academic and dean, at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough.

Randy Boyagoda appointed �鶹��Ƶ’s provostial adviser on civil discourse

lanthierj — Tue, 16 Jan 2024 20:12:34 +0000

Randy Boyagoda appointed �鶹��Ƶ’s provostial adviser on civil discourse

lanthierj Tue, 01/16/2024 - 15:12

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(photo by Derek Shapton)

Topic

Faculty of Arts & Science

St. Michael's College

Professor Randy Boyagoda has been appointed the University of Toronto’s first provostial adviser on civil discourse.

A faculty member in the department of English in the Faculty of Arts & Science and a noted novelist, essayist, book critic and scholar, Boyagoda will serve an 18-month term effective Jan. 1, 2024.

He will establish a working group that will lead community consultations and develop a plan for tri-campus events, resources and other initiatives for students, faculty and librarians to engage in and promote productive and respectful dialogue on all kinds of topics. The group will also learn from other institutions around the world that are pursuing their own efforts with respect to civil discourse.

“I was very glad to have been invited by the provost to take up this appointment,” Boyagoda said, adding that he’s looking forward to fostering “a tri-campus conversation in a variety of formats and scales that invite students and faculty to live out civil discourse.

“As part of that, we’ll be drawing on and benefiting from the excellent programming, teaching and research already taking place in this respect, in departments and programs across our three campuses.”

Boyagoda, who will continue to serve as vice-dean, undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has previously served as principal and vice-president of St. Michael’s College and as acting vice-provost, faculty and academic life. He has also served as president of PEN Canada, the national chapter of the international non-profit organization that celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression and aids writers in peril.

“I am certain that Professor Boyagoda’s combination of skills and knowledge will serve the university well in this important role,” said Trevor Young, �鶹��Ƶ’s vice-president and provost. “I am grateful to him for his willingness to serve as the provostial adviser on civil discourse.”

Young noted that �鶹��Ƶ President Meric Gertler addressed the issue of civil discourse at a meeting of the university’s Governing Council in December, saying: “Disagreements on our campuses can and will be heated. But they cannot be allowed to descend into hateful, demeaning or harassing behaviour. Our university must demonstrate to the world how civil, informed debate about difficult issues can be conducted.”

Boyagoda is well-suited to the task of helping to guide the university in answering President Gertler’s call, Young said.

Boyagoda has grappled with high-profile issues around free speech and civil discourse in his own writing and scholarship, including teaching a graduate seminar last fall – “The Satanic Verses and the Public Life of Books” – that considered the impact of author Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel.

“What’s important with civil discourse is to create the conditions, inside and outside the classroom, especially at a place as inherently and variously diverse as our university, for discussions that acknowledge difference while working towards shared understandings,” Boyagoda said. “This matters throughout our shared life on campus, and not just when it comes to the most divisive issues of a given moment.”

Ultimately, he said, the goal is to create the conditions for members of the university community to have the willingness and capacity to engage productively with people who hold viewpoints opposite to their own. This might involve public events, teaching fellowships, undergraduate, graduate and faculty research opportunities and other ideas and projects that emerge from consultations.

“When I was principal of St. Michael’s College, I would propose to incoming students that it was so very important to approach your years at university as an exciting and demanding opportunity to do more than just think for yourself – which strikes me as a lonely, boring, self-confirming exercise. To my mind, university is a time and space to discern who you want to think with, who you want to think against, and how to do so, with others, for the greater good,” Boyagoda said.

“Doing this difficult thing, together, and for the greater good: that’s what civil discourse is all about.”

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