We have had a successful beginning to the academic year, one that will be characterized by a remarkable degree of change and renewal at McMaster.  

The university is very fortunate to have been able to name both a new Chancellor and to welcome a new Chair of the Board of Governors, both leaders of extremely high calibre. 

Starting Jan. 1, Dr. Nicholas Brathwaite will serve as McMaster’s next Chancellor, as Santee Smith concludes her six years in the role, during which she has served with honour and distinction.  

Dr. Brathwaite is a visionary technologist and investor, a seasoned entrepreneur, inspired philanthropist and dedicated alumnus who brings a legacy of innovation, global leadership and deep commitment to education and equity to the role.  

Dr. Brathwaite, who was born in Grenada, earned a degree in Applied Chemistry from McMaster in 1982 and a master’s in Polymer Science from the University of Waterloo before launching a successful Silicon Valley career. 

He went on to co-found private equity firm Riverwood Capital and now leads global deep-tech investments at Celesta Capital, a Silicon Valley capital firm backing disruptive technologies worldwide. 

Through the PETNA Foundation, which he co-founded with his wife Janice, Dr. Brathwaite has championed youth, education, and community development across the Caribbean and North America. 

The foundation’s partnership with McMaster has supported numerous students, including recipients of the Nicholas and Janice Brathwaite Award, which empowers Caribbean scholars to pursue undergraduate studies at the university. 

In 2018, Dr. Brathwaite was awarded an honorary doctorate from the DeGroote School of Business in recognition of his many accomplishments. 

We are fortunate to have as our new Board Chair Dr. Stephen Elop, a 1986 graduate of McMaster’s Engineering and Management program, who has distinguished himself on the global stage as a technology leader in senior roles with companies that include Nokia, Microsoft, Adobe Systems and Juniper Networks.  

In addition to his service with the Board of Governors, Dr. Elop, who earned a McMaster honorary Doctor of Science degree in 2009, has served as Distinguished Engineering Executive in Residence and donated the lead gift to enable McMaster Engineering to launch its Pivot initiative.  

His devotion to McMaster and his multi-dimensional leadership make him an ideal Chair for our Board of Governors. 

Dr. Elop, who started in his chair role July 1, served as Master of Ceremonies for the recent Presidential Installation and takes up the gavel from Jane Allen, who served with distinction during her three-year term.  

In my installation address in September, I highlighted McMaster’s traditions of excellence and bold innovation, emphasizing the importance of elevating the impact of McMaster research across all six faculties, including a greater focus on entrepreneurship and commercialization, with the goal of helping society through research to improve the quality of life and to enhance the economy through the creation of jobs, including, for example, work in medical diagnostics, treatments and vaccines, electric vehicles, and food safety. 

A particular focus is the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, which the provincial government recently boosted with $15m in new funding to extend its operations to 24/7, enabling the production of more medical isotopes for cancer treatment and opening new opportunities for research, training and industry partnerships. 

In addition to these being my own first months as President and Vice-Chancellor, we have welcomed Dr. Maureen MacDonald, former Dean of Science, to her new role as Provost and Vice-President Academic, and Dr. Gianni Parise, former Acting Dean of Science, to a new role as Vice-President, Research. 

In July, we welcomed Dr. Gailene Tobin Vandenheuvel as new Chief Executive Officer of McMaster Innovation Park. With more than 30 years of experience in innovation, commercialization, and research park leadership, she brings a unique combination of academic depth, public and private sector experience, and strategic leadership to the role. 

We are eagerly anticipating the appointment of McMaster’s first Vice-Provost, Indigenous, in keeping with our continuing effort so support and enhance Indigenous education and research, and to build further connections with our Indigenous partners while also advancing the critical work of reconciliation.  

Recent campus activities recognizing the Sept. 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation highlighted the need not just for recognition of the legacy of the residential school system, but action. 

In recognition of McMaster’s longstanding leadership in Indigenous education, the Mastercard Foundation has made a remarkable $5-million gift to elevate innovation in academic programs, supports and services for Indigenous students at McMaster.

The gift, created to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Final Report and 94 Calls to Action, is part of a $245-million strategic investment by the Mastercard Foundation to recognize the outstanding impact of more than 30 organizations across Canada that are advancing education for Indigenous young people. 

This time of change at McMaster is also a time of review and assessment to gather information and evidence to guide our future direction.  

We have recently completed an external strategic review of the University Secretariat, which favorably assessed the work of the team as highly competent and service-focused, but also noted its constrained resources in the face of the Secretariat’s increasingly substantial and complex work. The full report of the panel is posted on the Presidential website. 

We are in the process of completing two other external reviews, making this an especially busy period for our review team and the external and internal panelists responsible for each of the specific reviews, with the promise of valuable insights to come. 

The panel reviewing the Faculty of Health Sciences, triggered by the pending completion of Dr. Paul O’Byrne’s term as Vice-President and Dean of Health Sciences, has completed its interviews and its report is pending.  

A separate review panel is preparing its report on Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs, following the retirement of Andrea Farquhar, Chief Executive, Internal and External Engagement. The report will guide the future direction of the department, including the recruitment of a permanent new leader. The panel completed two days of interviews early this month. 

On a broader scale, we are starting the process of creating a new five-year strategic plan for McMaster, with the goal of launching the new plan in June, following extensive consultation with the campus community. The plan, to be called Setting the Course, will take us through 2030, the 100th anniversary of McMaster’s relocation to Hamilton from Toronto. I encourage everyone to take advantage of upcoming opportunities to participate in framing the future of our university.  

As we continue to raise our aspirations for McMaster, we must recognize the need for resources that will sustain our operations and support critical growth. McMaster is at a point where major and minor gifts alike will set the future course of the university, and we’ll soon be embarking on the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the university’s history. 

As we plan for the future, very visible changes are already happening, with major building projects in various stages of completion. 

Construction work is nearing completion at the DeGroote School of Business’s McLean Centre for Collaborative Discovery, a 10-storey, 190,000-square-foot, multi-use facility that will prepare students for the future of business by fostering collaboration, creativity and a hands-on approach to learning. This innovative space, made possible by a foundational gift from the McLean family, will be a place where DeGroote and McMaster students, faculty, staff and community partners will come together to solve real-world problems and tackle challenges facing society. 

At the southern edge of campus on Main Street West, the new Lincoln Alexander Hall residence complex is taking shape in the lead-up to its scheduled opening in September. With 1,366 beds, Lincoln Alexander Hall, can help McMaster to meet its longstanding goal of guaranteeing residence space to all first-year students who request it.  

On Longwood Road South, we recently celebrated the groundbreaking for a new hotel at McMaster Innovation Park, which will provide convenient accommodation to those visiting the facilities and businesses at MIP, making collaboration more convenient, in keeping with the park’s mandate. The seven-storey, hybrid facility will offer a combination of traditional hotel space and extended stay options. The hotel will also serve the needs of local businesses and services in the West Hamilton Innovation District and surrounding area. 

As plans and projects shape the future of the University, McMaster continues to perform well in global and national rankings.  

The 2026 Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed McMaster fourth in Canada and among the top 100 public universities globally for research excellence and strong partnerships with industry. Overall, McMaster ranked 116th in a field of more than 2,000 public and private universities worldwide. 

McMaster also recently ranked 14th in the world in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings of institutions that excel across multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

The annual Maclean’s magazine rankings, released last week, have placed McMaster first in Canada for student services and fifth overall among Canada’s best Medical Doctoral Univerisites — universities with a wide range of research and PhD programs and medical schools.  

This external recognition for McMaster flows from the hard work of our staff and the excellence of our faculty. 

A number of our faculty members have received special recognition recently for their outstanding achievements, some of which I’d like to highlight here.  

The Royal Society of Canada has named Dr. Hendrik Poinar, who has been named the recipient of Royal Society of Canada’s prestigious Sir John William Dawson Medal, recognizing the impact and versatility of his scholarship.

Dr. Poinar is the Principal Investigator at the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre and is known worldwide for his groundbreaking work in evolutionary genetics and biomolecular anthropology. He joins McMaster’s previous recipients Dr. Harry Thode and Dr. Fraser Mustard, which puts him in very good company. 

The Royal Society of Canada has elected four McMaster faculty members as Fellows, a distinction awarded to Canadians who have made remarkable contributions to the arts, the humanities, the sciences or Canadian public life. They are: Dr. Daniel Coleman, Professor Emeritus, English and Cultural Studies; Dr. Stuart Philllips, Professor, Kinesiology; Dr. Parminder Raina Professor, Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact; and Dr. Allison Williams, Professor, Earth, Environment & Society. 

Three researchers have been named to the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, which recognizes mid-career leaders who are helping Canada and the world address major challenges and seize new opportunities. They are: Dr. Olufemi Ayeni, Professor, Surgery; Dr. Allan Downey, Associate Professor, History, with Joint Appointment, Indigenous Studies; and Dr. Stelios Georgiades, Associate Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences. 

Provost MacDonald, Vice-President of Research Parise and I will be attending the Royal Society of Canada conference in November with the honorees. 

Three McMaster faculty members were recently appointed to the Order of Canada. They are: Dr. Peter Rosenbaum, a professor of Pediatrics who has transformed child disability care; Dr. Saroj Saigal, a professor emerita of Pediatrics,  in recognition of her work in shaping the field of neonatology; and Dr. Timothy Whelan, a world-class radiation oncologist who has dedicated his career to transforming how breast cancer is treated – placing patient outcomes and quality of life at the heart of his work.

The Canadian Science Policy Centre has awarded Dr. Sandra Lapointe its 2025 Trailblazer Award for Innovation Policy, recognizing her groundbreaking contributions to shaping Canada’s science and innovation landscape. A Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Lapointe is nationally respected for advancing social innovation and science policy. She is the founder of The Canadian Collaborative for Society, Innovation and Policy, a cross-sectoral think tank dedicated to strengthening science strategy and innovation policy for complex human systems and societal prosperity, and of The La Collaborative, a pan-Canadian network developing new models for knowledge and talent mobilization in social innovation.  

These are all tremendous accomplishments, and I offer my congratulations to those who have earned these distinctions. 

The achievements of our faculty members and researchers, the improvements to our campus, the planning we do for the future, and the assessment of our ongoing work all point toward greater success, all of which is inspired by our desire to serve our students as well as we can.  

Their learning and the quality of their experience are closely intertwined. In my Installation address, I described students as “the true heart of McMaster,” and emphasized the university’s commitment to continue improving the quality of their education and experience. 

In one important manifestation of that commitment, McMaster’s Wilson College of Leadership & Civic Engagement has welcomed its inaugural class. Wilson College is the first learning and research space of its kind in Canada. Supported by the philanthropy of business executive, McMaster graduate, and former Chancellor Lynton (Red) Wilson, the college will help develop leaders who are prepared to take on societal challenges with creativity and determination. I want to recognize Dean Swett, Dean Hurley, Acting Dean Cuff, Acting Academic Director Stephen Jones and the Wilson College Team for achieving an ambitious goal of welcoming the inaugural class just three years after the announcement of Red Wilson’s latest gift. 

On Sept. 12, which would have been former McMaster President Peter George’s 84th birthday, Dr. George’s family members and friends returned to campus to join us in celebrating five years since the opening of the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning, including the unveiling of a new commemorative plaque.  The original opening ceremonies had been deferred due to the pandemic, and this was a welcome opportunity to celebrate the legacy of an especially influential McMaster president who had prioritized creating spaces for students to thrive.  

As we all work together to make our great university even better in every regard, the early days of this academic year have reminded us of our traditions, our achievements and our responsibilities, all of which I hope will inspire us to reach ever higher.