Appointment of William Gough as VP, Academic and Dean, UTM

Dear Colleagues, 

We are pleased to announce that the Agenda Committee of Academic Board has approved the appointment of Professor William Gough as Vice-Principal, Academic, and Dean at University of Toronto Mississauga for a five-year term from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2031.  

Professor Gough has held this role in an interim capacity for the past 20 months, during which time he has cultivated reciprocal relationships, strengthened academic operations, and advanced significant initiatives, including the growth of UTM’s co-op internship program. 

He has also shared his wealth of experience from UTSC, where he served previously as Vice-Principal, Academic, and Dean, Vice-Dean, Faculty, and Vice-Dean, Graduate Education and Program Development. In 2020, he helped lead UTSC’s curriculum review, which enhanced programs and pedagogies for the twenty-first century, especially through intentional focus on Indigenous, Black, and racialized ways of knowing. 

Professor Gough has made a similarly positive impact as a researcher and teacher. Over the past thirty-plus years, he has shaped his field of climate science, publishing 150+ articles, delivering over 50 invited research talks, and supervising more than 65 master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral trainees. In 2010 and 2011, he earned recognition from the Canadian Association of Geographers for excellence in teaching and service. 

Professor Gough completed his PhD in atmospheric and oceanic sciences at McGill University in 1991. He joined UTSC as an Assistant Professor shortly after that and has worked in the U of T community ever since, earning promotion to Associate Professor in 1998 and to Professor in 2014. 

Please join us in congratulating Professor Gough on this appointment and in thanking him for his continued leadership. 

Best,

Alex and Trevor