Alexandra Gillespie officially installed as VP-Principal at UTM
The installation ceremony for Professor Alexandra Gillespie as U of T Mississauga’s 10th vice-president and principal was held on April 29.
An internationally renowned scholar, Gillespie assumed the role of vice president, University of Toronto, and principal of University of Toronto Mississauga on July 1, 2020. Her five-year appointment runs until Dec. 31, 2025.
The virtual installation ceremony marks a significant milestone and recognizes the new leadership and direction Gillespie brings to UTM. Dignitaries in attendance included U of T President Meric Gertler and Professor Cheryl Regehr, vice-president and provost, U of T, as well as honoured guests from the UTM community, including Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, retired Court of Appeal judge Justice Harry Laforme, Elder Valarie King and Councillor Veronica King-Jamieson of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
Since assuming the role of VP and principal, Gillespie has built on the momentum of UTM’s past growth, with special focus on enabling excellence in student and faculty research; developing inclusive communities and sustainable spaces; and inspiring academic innovation for student success. Recognized as a dynamic and creative leader, she remains dedicated to building partnerships, both internally and externally, and augmenting well-being across the UTM community and beyond.
A scholar of 14th-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer, Gillespie joined UTM as an assistant professor in 2004. In 2010, she won UTM’s Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence in recognition of her outstanding work in the classroom and as a mentor to student researchers. In 2016, she founded the Jackman Humanities Institute’s tri-campus Digital Humanities Network. Prior to joining UTM, Gillespie worked as a management consultant in New Zealand’s education sector. She was a Bradley-Maxwell Junior Research Fellow at Balliol College in Oxford, and a Munby Fellow at Cambridge University Library.
Gillespie holds a DPhil and MSt in English from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar, after completing her BA (Hons) in English at Victoria University of Wellington (NZ).
The virtual ceremony, which was presided over by Cheryl Regehr, premiered on YouTube to accommodate the need for physical distancing due to COVID-19.
Gillespie succeeds Professor Ian Orchard, who served as acting vice-president & principal from Sept. 2019 to June 2020, and Professor Ulrich Krull, vice-president & principal from July 2017 to June 2020.
Read more: