Last Thursday, President David Naylor and Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Misak announced that Professor Hargurdeep (Deep) Saini had been appointed Vice President and Principal, University of Toronto Mississauga.
Currently the Dean of the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, Professor Saini will serve as UTMs Vice Principal and President for a five-year term effective July 1.
I am thrilled to be joining the leadership team of an institution I have always held in the highest esteem, said Professor Saini. As Canadas largest university and a preeminent research institution, the University of Toronto has a unique responsibility in nurturing the brightest minds of our nation—indeed the world. I am particularly excited to be taking on a leadership role at U of T Mississauga, a truly dynamic and innovative campus.
The University of Toronto Mississauga is located amidst one of Canadas fastest growing urban centres, with tremendous entrepreneurial zeal and cultural diversity, said Professor Saini. It is uniquely positioned to respond to the areas burgeoning demand for high-quality education. I am looking forward to leading the continued transformation of U of T Mississauga into an outstanding comprehensive campus within a strong U of T system.
Professor Saini introduced several new degree programs at the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. He also added two new academic units there: the School of Environment Enterprise and Development, and the Centre for Knowledge Integration. Moreover, Professor Saini has been credited with increasing enrolment and with attaining millions of dollars in infrastructure and operating funding.
Before joining University of Waterloo, Professor Saini served as the Director General for the Université de Montréal, where he also taught in the Départment de sciences biologiques, Institut de recherche en biologie végétale. He served as both president of the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists and president of the Federation of Canadian Plant Science Societies between 2003 and 2007, and represented the University of Waterloo in the 2009 Clean Tech Mission to India.
With a PhD from the University of Adelaide in Australia, Professor Saini has been the Dean of the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo since 2006. His research interests include the physiological basis of the interactions of plants with their environment, mechanisms underlying plant responses to and tolerance against drought and salinity, biochemistry, molecular biology and genetic engineering of biological detoxification.
