University of Victoria Appoints New Vice-President Academic And Provost

The University of Victoria has appointed Dr. Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay as its next Vice-President Academic and Provost, effective January 1, 2011.

“UVic has a tremendous reputation and I’m very excited about becoming part of the university,” says Tremblay.

Tremblay is currently vice-president academic and Pro Vice-Chancellor Pro Tempore at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

“One of the biggest challenges as Vice-President Academic is how do you let each unit function in an autonomous way to further their own agendas but also bring them together to pursue the institution’s agenda,” says Tremblay. “These goals sometimes appear contradictory and can be challenging.”

Prior to her current appointment, she served as Dean of Arts at Memorial from 2006 to 2009. From 1998 to 2005, she was Chair of the Department of Political Science at Concordia University.

Born and raised in India, Tremblay earned degrees of BA (Hons) and MA from the University of Kashmir, MPhil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and MA and PhD in political science from the University of Chicago before beginning her academic career as a political scientist. She is North America’s leading authority on the secessionist movement of Kashmir and on Indian federalism. Her research deals with identity-based politics, public policy and popular culture.

“Dr. Tremblay’s international knowledge and experience will stand our university in excellent stead in this era of internationalization and globalization of higher education,” says UVic President David Turpin, who chaired the selection committee. “People who have worked with Dr. Tremblay attest to her openness and collegiality, her leadership and vision, her commitment to quality, her outstanding problem-solving, team-building and administrative skills, her principle-based approach to decision making – and, last but not least, her great sense of humour.”

For more information about Tremblay visit: http://www.mun.ca/vpacademic/tremblay_vpa.php

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