Professor Wisdom J. Tettey: Professor Tettey joined U of T as the first Black vice-president of the University of Toronto and principal of °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½Ó¿Ú in 2018, after serving as dean of arts and sciences at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus. Born in Ghana, Tettey completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Ghana before coming to Canada to earn a master’s degree at UBC and a PhD at Queen’s University.
He has been described as a truly transformative leader for the University of Toronto, under whose stewardship °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½Ó¿Ú flourished as a hub of inclusive excellence and a model for sustainable campus growth. Prof. Tettey’s many achievements as vice-president and principal include the launch of a five-year strategic plan, Inspiring Inclusive Excellence, that consolidated °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½Ó¿Ú’s reputation for drawing on diverse perspectives to enrich higher education and strengthen responses to pressing societal challenges, as well as an extensive curriculum review that prioritized centering Indigenous, Black and international perspectives. In addition to the establishment of three research institutes, the period registered appreciable increase in scholarly supports, productivity, and prominence.
The Campus also achieved unprecedented advancement success under his leadership. This included receiving its first 8-figure gifts, such as the landmark $25-million donations each from Orlando Corporation, philanthropists Myron and Berna Garron, and Scarborough-based business leader Sam Ibrahim. The first two investments supported the Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) while the third helped to create the Centre for Inclusive Excellence in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Leadership.
The °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½Ó¿Ú campus undertook several marquee projects during Tettey’s tenure. They include: Harmony Commons student residence; Indigenous House; place making initiatives that adopted Indigenous language names for various campus spaces; SAMIH; the EaRTH District partnership; and collaboration with the Toronto Zoo on a Conservation Centre facility.
Tettey also championed the creation and adoption of the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Higher Education, a commitment by Canadian post-secondary institutions to recognize the impact of anti-Black racism and foster Black inclusion. A scholar of African politics, media and diaspora, he played a key role in strengthening U of T’s ties with post-secondary institutions in Africa.
Professor Bruce Kidd: Before his appointment at UTSC in 2014, Professor Kidd had been Warden of Hart House (since 2011), founding dean of what is now the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education as well as a member of the faculty since 1973, and Director of Canadian Studies at University College. He began teaching political science at U of T in 1970. Professor Kidd earned degrees from the University of Toronto (B.A., Political Economy), the University of Chicago (A.M., Education), and York University (M.A. and Ph.D., History), and an honorary doctor of laws from Dalhousie University. Involved in the Olympic Movement throughout his life, Professor Kidd participated in the Games as an athlete (track and field, 1964), journalist, contributor to the arts and culture programs and accredited social scientist. Prof. Kidd was instrumental in advancing UTSC’s role as a city building institution. He worked to enhanced the university’s status as an anchor institution in the Eastern GTA, focusing on engagement and partnerships.
Professor Franco Vaccarino: After starting his career at UTSC in 1984 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, Vaccarino worked in several executive capacities at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health before returning to U of T as Chair of the Department of Psychology, where he was also responsible for the tri-campus graduate program. During his years at the helm, he would oversee significant growth in student and faculty populations as well as a new phase of growth on the North Campus. He was instrumental in reorganizing academic departments and developing a new master plan. Vaccarino was named President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guelph in 2014.
Professor Kwong-loi Shun: A distinguished scholar and accomplished academic administrator, Shun previously served as Dean of the undergraduate division of the College of Letters and Science at UC Berkeley. A professor of Chinese philosophy and the author of numerous articles and reviews, Shun completed his Bachelors and Masters degrees at the University of Hong Kong, the University of London and Oxford University, and his PhD at Stanford University. At U of T, Shun holds an appointment in UTSC’s Department of Humanities and in the graduate Departments of Philosophy and East Asian Studies.
Dr. Paul Thompson: Scarborough graduate and professor of Philosophy and Zoology, Thompson was a faculty member at UTSC during the 1970s, where he introduced a course that brought a philosophical approach to current social issues. He later became Chair of Humanities from 1987 to 1989. As UTSC Principal and Dean, he oversaw expansion of UTSC’s Co-op program, the introduction of the Bachelor of Business Administration degree and the strengthening of environmental sciences at the campus.
George Ronald Williams: Previously Chair of the Department of Biochemistry at U of T from 1970 to 1977, Williams is known for creating an environment in which research blossomed. Williams continued the involvement of Toronto biochemists in major administrative roles during his tenure.
Dr. Albert Derrick Allen: The inorganic chemist came to the University of Toronto from University College London in 1957. In 1965, Allen and his student C.V. Senoff, made the dramatic development in the chemistry of Nitrogen gas when they isolated the first stable complex of dinitrogen, a remarkable complex that caught the imagination of chemists around the world and continues to be the subject of study today. Allen became ill and passed away shortly after assuming the office of Principal. The A.D. Allen Memorial Scholarship is created in his memory to recognize the top student in each year in any field of study.
Professor Joan Foley: Joan Foley was the first female head of a University of Toronto college and went on to become Provost at the University of Toronto. She began her U of T career as a lecturer in the Department of Psychology in 1963, later serving as Chair of that department, Chair in the Division of Life Sciences, and Associate Dean of Arts and Science. Prof. Foley returned to °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½Ó¿Ú as Acting Principal from 1999 – 2000.
Professor Ralph Campbell, CM (BSc 1949): Agricultural Economist and Rhodes Scholar, Ralph Campbell had served as the Ford Foundation advisor to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1962 and later left Canada for Kenya in 1970 to help establish the Mumias Sugar Factory, creating thousands of jobs. He returned to U of T in 1972, and as Principal, he spearheaded the University’s first co-operative education program. He was the last Principal to reside in the Miller Lash House. Campbell was appointed President at the University of Manitoba in 1976 and in 1984 led the AUCC’s efforts to assist Canadian universities in establishing productive relations with universities in the developing world. Campbell was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1986.
Dr. A. F. Wynne Plumptre: Distinguished U of T Economist and civil servant A.F. Wynne Plumptre was the first to live in the stately Principal's residence, the Miller Lash House. A U of T graduate, Plumptre studied at Cambridge with John Maynard Keynes. Plumptre had served as assistant secretary of the Royal Commission on Banking and Currency in Canada. He later co-edited, with Harold Innis, The Canadian Economy, work which led him into a study of central banking in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and later to service with the Canadian Embassy in Washington and the Wartime Prices and Trade Board in Ottawa before returning to academia. Plumptre’s wife Beryl was also a forceful and forthright economist who became famous 10years later after Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed her to head the Food Prices Review Board with the unique mandate to report not only to politicians on why prices were increasing rapidly, but directly to the Canadian public. She was named Canadian Newsmaker of the Year in 1975.
Dr. David Carleton Williams: Professor of Psychology and a TV/Radio vanguard lecturer, Williams was University of Toronto’s first academic to serve as Director, Department of Extension. Williams was part of the Live and Learn TV lecture series, one of the University’s first forays into television. In 1964 he was tasked with spearheading the development of U of T’s two new campuses in Scarborough and Erindale, and served as the first principal for these two campuses. Williams was named President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Western Ontario in 1967, where he served for ten years.