The following message to the University community is from York President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton and Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps:

We are delighted to announce that the search for the deputy provost to lead our Markham Campus realization has reached a successful conclusion.

This is an important and exciting time in York’s evolution, as we bring to fruition plans for innovative teaching and research programs, physical space and partnerships for our new Markham Campus in York Region, which will welcome its first cohort of students in September 2023. The new campus is situated in the fastest growing region in Ontario, and will offer students innovative, relevant, job-ready academic programming and research opportunities focused on digital media arts, engineering and technology, entrepreneurship, management, new media and communications.

Following an extensive search that attracted outstanding candidates, the search committee recommended the appointment of Dr. Gordon Binsted to the position of deputy provost Markham. We are very pleased that Dr. Binsted has accepted our invitation to take up a five-year term, commencing Jan. 1, 2022. On Oct. 12, on the president’s recommendation, the Board of Governors Executive Committee, on behalf of the Board of Governors, concurred with the recommendation for the appointment.

Dr. Binsted joins us from the University of British Columbia (UBC), where he has most recently served as dean of the Faculty of Health and Social Development at the Okanagan Campus. During his time as dean, which began in 2011, he has additionally served as associate provost, strategic health initiatives; interim dean, Faculty of Education; interim vice-principal of research for UBC’s Okanagan Campus; and interim vice-principal academic and provost for UBC’s Okanagan Campus. His extensive academic leadership experience at UBC has included a role as founding director of the university’s School of Health and Exercise Sciences, the development of new degree programs and the redesign of curricula, all while working to focus faculty time and resources on research intensification. Dr. Binsted’s efforts at UBC have included developing a campus-wide co-op program and a campus-industry incubator, as well as advancing supportive admissions for Indigenous learners. Prior to these leadership roles, Dr. Binsted taught at the universities of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Illinois Urbana-Champagne, and held roles as research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen and the Beckman Institute in Illinois.

Having made faculty and student renewal a top priority during his time as founding director and then dean, Dr. Binsted shepherded a ten-fold increase in faculty and student cohorts. He has built substantial international profile and recognition for his Faculty and department, in part by establishing formal mechanisms for mentorship and support of faculty as they move through their careers, including teaching, research and grant mentorship. In doing so, divisional research grant success increased by a factor of five, and research output by a factor of 10 in a decade. With extensive experience in collegial governance across the university system, Dr. Binsted is strongly committed to offering opportunities to students to expand their world view and see themselves as responsible to become leaders in their communities.

An advocate for diversity and inclusion in the widest sense, he supports York taking on a national leadership role on reconciliation and the decolonization of the institution, and sees the new Markham Campus as an opportunity to further strengthen the University’s contributions to the social and economic well-being of communities in surrounding York Region and beyond.

Dr. Binsted holds degrees from the University of British Columbia, McMaster University and the University of Alberta, where he completed his PhD in experimental psychology. His research explores the ways in which the human brain controls movement by detecting and using sensory information. He has published dozens of articles in the top journals in his field and has contributed book chapters and conference proceedings to significant publications and societies. He has received numerous research grants, including several from the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. He has given more than 200 presentations at conferences and as a keynote speaker.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Binsted into the York community.

Sincerely,

Rhonda Lenton 
President and Vice-Chancellor

Lisa Philipps 
Provost and Vice-President Academic