Best wishes for the New Year, everyone. The year 2017 will undoubtedly bring many opportunities and changes.

One of the first for Memorial is the announcement that Dr. Mary Bluechardt, vice-president (Grenfell Campus), will be the next president and vice-chancellor of Mount Saint Vincent University in Nova Scotia, starting July 1, 2017.

This is a tremendous opportunity for Dr. Bluechardt and her family, though it will mean a change in the senior leadership role within our university.  Dr. Bluechardt has played a key leadership role for Memorial, most particularly Grenfell Campus, including guiding the development of a new strategic plan, expanding the campus’s academic and research capacity and spearheading an active outreach effort into the surrounding regions.

Dr. Bluechardt will continue to serve as vice-president (Grenfell Campus) through April 2017. Shortly I will launch and chair a national search for her replacement. As this process is likely to take several months, in the near future I will announce an interim appointment to the role of vice-president (Grenfell Campus).

Finally, I thank Dr. Bluechardt for her excellent leadership and service to Grenfell Campus and to Memorial University more broadly. An occasion to recognize her contributions more formally will be forthcoming later this semester.

On a personal note, I look forward to working with her in her new role as president of one of Canada’s universities. Please join me in wishing her the very best in this new endeavour.