As you may have heard in the news lately, David Johnston was named as Canada's new Governor General. A visionary, scholar, athlete, and a gentleman, he formally assumed the position on October 1, 2010, and resigned as president of the University of Waterloo. But where would Waterloo find someone to fill David Johnston's shoes? From the roster of former long-term chairs of TRIUMF's Board of Management, of course.
Effective October 1, Waterloo provost and former TRIUMF Board Chair Feridun Hamdullahpur became president of the university on an interim basis until a new president is chosen to succeed Johnston. It is hoped a new president will be in the post by mid-2011.Feridun had been serving as Waterloo's vice-president, academic and provost since September 1, 2009. He is also a tenured faculty member in the department of mechanical and mechatronics engineering.
As a joint venture of a consortium of Canadian universities, TRIUMF is directed by a Board of Management that includes representatives from each full-member university along with two business leaders from the private sector. Feridun served as Carleton's senior representative to the TRIUMF Board from 2000 to 2009. He chaired the Board from January 2006 through August 2009 at which point he resigned to accept the position at Waterloo.
Nigel Lockyer, TRIUMF's director, commented, "We know Feridun is an extraordinary individual and Waterloo will certainly benefit from his leadership. He has been a real champion for science, technology, and innovation in Canada. The University of Waterloo is the perfect match for his talents."
As chair of the TRIUMF Board, Dr. Hamdullahpur oversaw the growth of the TRIUMF consortium from six full-member universities to eleven members. He facilitated efforts to successfully raise TRIUMF's profile in connection with the Five-Year Plan and assisted with key introductions for TRIUMF in Ottawa. During his tenure, TRIUMF solidified its relationship with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, the chief regulator of TRIUMF's activities. He oversaw the incorporation of TRIUMF Accelerators, Inc. which now holds the TRIUMF operating license and he negotiated a successful Preliminary Decommissioning Plan and funding strategy for TRIUMF with CNSC and NRC. At his suggestion, the Board of Management updated TRIUMF's mission statement to reflect its full value to Canada and the research community, explicitly including accelerator science and technology, materials-science and nuclear-medicine research, and knowledge-transfer and commercialization activities. And the list of accomplishments goes on and on...
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Before coming to Waterloo, Feridun served as the Provost and Vice President Academic (2006-2009) and, as the Vice President Research and International (2000-2006) at Carleton University in Ottawa. Prior to his move to Carleton, he was the Associate Principal, Graduate Studies and Research at DalTech, Dalhousie University (1997-2000). He was Associate Dean of Graduate Studies (1993-95), and Dean of Graduate Studies and Research (1995-97). In these various positions, his mandate was to provide leadership in developing new academic and research initiatives, and integrating research, graduate studies, technology-knowledge transfer and international programs and expertise, and to liaise with government, business, granting councils, other universities and organizations on research and academic matters.
Dr. Hamdullahpur received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Istanbul, Turkey, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the Technical University of Nova Scotia in Halifax, Canada. Dr. Hamdullahpur has been an active researcher and supervisor and still participates in original research. His research areas include energy conversion, thermo-fluids and bio-mass gasification and combustion. He has published over 130 scientific and technical articles and supervised over 40 graduate students. And, by the way, he's a good soccer player, too!
The TRIUMF community salutes Feridun for his new post at the helm of the University of Waterloo. Congratulations!
-- By T.I. Meyer, TRIUMF's Head of Strategic Planning & Communications