Celebrating Rhonda McEwen, incoming President at the University of Victoria

Dear colleagues, 

 

I’m writing to congratulate Rhonda McEwen, professor at UTM’s institute of communication, culture, information, and technology, on her appointment as president of the University of Victoria in British Columbia. You can read the full announcement here knowing that Professor McEwen will bring the same brilliance, creativity, and vision to this new role as she has for our community for the past twenty years. 

 

After earning her PhD at U of T’s faculty of information, in 2011 Professor McEwen joined UTM, where she helped grow ICCIT into a distinctive, stand-alone institute with exceptional research and teaching programs. Her own research has made similarly lasting impact, with 50+ peer-reviewed articles and books, alongside op-eds, interviews, and public presentations, that illuminate social networks, virtual reality, and communication and learning technologies. Her work earned a Canada Research Chair and informed her community-building leadership as a founding member of U of T’s Black Research Network. 

 

Her leadership has strengthened U of T in many other ways. In 2020, Professor McEwen served as inaugural special advisor to me on anti-racism and equity, seeding student and professional development initiatives in what has now become Black at UTM. She rose to vice-principal, academic, and dean in 2021 and guided our return to in-person learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Professor McEwen became president and vice-chancellor of Victoria University at U of T, where she has continued to enrich student experience and advance meaningful action for equity and reconciliation. 

 

Driving all these accomplishments is a calm strength for which I’m deeply grateful. In early 2021, as she prepared for her role as UTM’s dean, I spoke with Rhonda about the complexity of our context: once-in-a-century pandemic, once-in-a-generation budget pressures, major reckoning with racism and colonialism. She replied, simply, with a frank elegance that exemplifies her courage and commitment to positive change: “let’s get to work.” Her work continues to meet the challenges of every moment and elevate the excellence of our teaching, research, and student support. The University of Victoria is fortunate to welcome such a leader as we’re fortunate to keep benefiting from her positive impact here. 

 

Congratulations and thanks, Rhonda. 

 

Best, 

Alex