Updates, news and stories

Fostering global citizenship through UBC’s international strategy

For Murali Chandrashekaran, UBC’s first Vice-Provost, International, universities are key to building a more just and prosperous world.

Florian Gassner and his quest to define censorship

Florian Gassner, Senior Instructor of German and Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies from the Faculty of Arts, tried to understand the meaning of censorship in a recent project focused on unearthing books that have been, or still are, banned.

Ananya Mukherjee Reed

Dr. Ananya Mukherjee Reed is Provost and Vice-President, Academic, at UBC Okanagan and Professor in the Department of Economics, Philosophy and Political Science at the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences. An interdisciplinary scholar in the field of Development Studies, Dr. Mukherjee Reed’s work over the past decade has mostly concentrated on inclusive and people-centered development. Her current research project, in collaboration with the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva, focuses on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the role of universities in social change. Prior to joining UBC in November 2018, Dr. Mukherjee Reed was Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York University. During her time at York University, she also served as Associate Vice-President of Research, Chair of the Department of Political Science, and Founding Director of the International Secretariat for Human Development. In 2016, she was named as one of five brilliant women in academia by Canadian Immigrant magazine in their third annual tribute to ‘Immigrant Women of Inspiration’.

Catherine Dauvergne

Catherine Dauvergne is Dean of the Peter A. Allard School of Law. A life-long legal academic, she has worked in the areas of refugee, immigration, and citizenship law over the past quarter of a century. As a UBC alumna, she clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada, and was named a Fellow of the Trudeau Foundation in recognition of her contributions to public discourse in Canada. She was appointed Dean of the Peter A. Allard School of Law in 2015.

Susan E. Parker

Susan E. Parker joined UBC in September 2017, as University Librarian. In her role, she is responsible for providing strategic oversight of the UBC Library system. She has held a number of leadership roles at Tufts and Harvard Law School (where she knew the young Barack Obama), before moving to California State University, Northridge, as the Associate Dean of the Oviatt Library and Associate Professor. Most recently, she served as the Deputy University Librarian and Chief Financial Officer at the University of California, Los Angeles.

UBC Robson Square: Watch this space

Robert Helsley

Robert Helsley is Dean of UBC Sauder School of Business and Grosvenor Professor of Cities, Business Economics and Public Policy. He joined UBC Sauder as Dean in 2012. Dean Helsley began his career at UBC, and previously served as Senior Associate Dean, Faculty and Research, Director of the UBC Centre for Real Estate and Urban Economics and Chair of the Urban Land Economics division, all within UBC Sauder. Between 2008 and 2012, before returning to UBC, he served at the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley as a Professor and Chair in Real Estate Development, and was the Co-chair of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics.

How to train your robot

In focus: Our university photographer

It’s possible that no one at UBC has quite as varied a work day as Paul Joseph. As the official University Photographer since 2016, he’s just as likely to be snapping pictures of laughing UBC summer campers as he is to be capturing studious portraits of Deans.

Simon Bates

Dr. Simon Bates is UBC’s Associate Provost, Teaching and Learning. He provides academic leadership and oversight of the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT), UBC Extended Learning, and the UBC Learning Exchange, and also oversees the development of new programs and curriculum quality assurance. A passionate advocate and champion of technology-led learning, Simon joined UBC in 2012 as the Academic Director of CTLT and as one of the first Professors of Teaching at the university in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Winter is coming

If the approach of winter weather has you cringing at the thought of hours spent shovelling heavy snow off your walkway and scraping ice off your windshield, spare a thought for the Building Operations and Facilities Management staff at UBC.

Ian Cull

Ian Cull is the Associate Vice-President, Students, at UBC’s Okanagan campus. As a leader of student life and experience at UBCO, student engagement is a top priority. With a Master of Arts in clinical psychology, an Honours degree in Anthropology, and a history of post-secondary career progression, Ian understands — first-hand — the importance of enhancing services, experiences, and learning opportunities for students.