Dr. Jennifer Lokash has been appointed to the role of interim associate vice-president (academic) in the Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic).

Dr. Lokash served in the role on a short-term basis from May to August 2022, and was recently extended in the role for a one-year period. The appointment was recommended by the provost and accepted by the president. Dr. Sean Cadigan previously held the position.

“Dr. Lokash will provide leadership and support on academic initiatives during the year ahead,” said Dr. Neil Bose, interim provost and vice-president (academic). “She is an experienced and highly engaged faculty member and administrator, serving as associate professor and department head in the Department of English at Memorial, and contributing to an array of pan-university initiatives. I would like to thank Dr. Lokash for taking on this interim leadership role.”

Background

Dr. Lokash has been a faculty member in the Department of English since 2004.

In May 2022 she completed an eight-year term as head of the department, during which she oversaw the administration of programs in English, communication studies, film studies, creative writing, and stage and screen technique. For five of those years, she was the director of the SPARKS Literary Festival, and she currently serves as Memorial’s public orator.

She is former chair of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Planning and Research Committee, and she has pan-university experience as a senator and on numerous committees, including several years of service on the Senate Committee on Academic Appeals and the University Committee on Special Admissions.

In late 2019 she was appointed as a representative for the University on the Joint Gender Equity Salary Readjustment Committee; this important work was recognized by the Canadian Association of University Teachers with the 2022 Sarah Shorten Award for outstanding achievements in the promotion of the advancement of women in Canadian universities and colleges.

Her broad research and teaching interests are in literature, the environment and the body, and in critical theories of art.

Though she had been looking forward to a return to the classroom this fall semester, she has put those plans on hold to join the provost’s office senior leadership team.