Vice-President (Research) Ed McCauley reappointed for second term

I am pleased to announce that Ed McCauley has been reappointed for a second five-year term as vice-president (research) at the University of Calgary.

In the spring, an Advisory Review Committee (ARC) was established to review the vice-president (research) for consideration of reappointment for a second five-year term. The committee invited and reviewed commentary from University of Calgary community members and external stakeholders. Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide input.

Ed’s accomplishments in pursuit of our Eyes High goals since joining the university as vice-president (research) on July 1, 2011, have been tremendous. Most important has been his leadership in the development of the university’s strategic research plan, which set the framework to discover and translate new knowledge into applications that have real-world benefits. This plan identified three major priorities for research at the university: to match our strengths with opportunities, to increase our research capacity, and to create a dynamic research environment to promote research excellence. Ed has also recruited an excellent senior leadership team, and with the provost and vice-president (academic) created 50 new assistant professors as strategic hires to move the university forward in key academic and research areas.

Under Ed’s leadership, six research strategies have been developed, with energy and biomedical engineering launched and the four others nearing completion. The university’s international influence has grown through the successful recruitment of the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) for Materials Engineering for Unconventional Oil Reservoirs, the launch of the Global Research Initiative for Unconventional Oil and Gas in Beijing and the creation of other innovative international partnerships. The university celebrated a major milestone with sponsored research revenue rising from $271.9 million to $325 million, resulting in a sixth-place ranking in Re$earch Infosource.

Underpinning these successes is an enhanced recruitment strategy that has brought talented students and researchers to campus through programs that are setting the university apart among its peers nationally and internationally, including the growing postdoctoral fellowship program that uniquely trains scholars for both academia and industry. Other improvements include stronger administrative processes that allow researchers to spend more time on research, including the refined SUPPORT institutional review committees that have yielded higher quality and improved success rates for major applications submitted by the university. 

Ed is an internationally recognized scholar and researcher with a long and distinguished career as a leader in developing innovative, interdisciplinary research centres, partnerships and projects and is one of the world’s foremost researchers in population ecology. Ed was a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences for nearly 25 years during which he also received a Canada Research Chair (CRC). He came back to the University of Calgary in his current role after serving as director of the prestigious National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis and professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

I would like to thank the members of the Advisory Review Committee, which I chaired, for undertaking this extensive consultation process. They were: Jon Meddings, dean, Cumming School of Medicine (Deans’ Council); Penny Werthner, dean, Faculty of Kinesiology (Deans’ Council); Raj Mehta, professor, Schulich School of Engineering (General Faculties Council); Susan Franceschet, Professor, Faculty of Arts (General Faculties Council); Deborah White, associate dean (research), Faculty of Nursing (General Faculties Council); John Baker, University of Calgary Faculty Association; Rose Tobias, manager, Development Neurosciences Research Program, Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute (MaPs); Erin Storey, information specialist, Libraries and Cultural Services (AUPE); Jarrett Henry, president, Students’ Union; Mike Webster, vice-president (finance and services), Graduate Students’ Association; Gord Ritchie, member, Board of Governors; and Gord Currie, alumnus and senator (community member).

Please join me in congratulating Ed McCauley on his reappointment.

Elizabeth Cannon
President