Chancellor Selection Committee

President & Vice Chancellor and chair of the Chancellor Selection Committee

From her days as a young professor at McMaster, Dr. Yates has committed herself to student success, with a particular and decades long involvement in experiential and problem based learning, and active mentorship. Her successful research career as an interdisciplinary industry- and community-engaged scholar in the fields of the Canadian automotive industry, labour markets and employment and women, work and family was forged with more than $10 million support from SSHRC and other granting bodies. Yates has authored three books, written dozens of peer-reviewed articles and reports, and supervised more than 40 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. 
 
Throughout her academic career, Dr. Yates has championed the rights of women, Indigenous peoples and other equity seeking and marginalized groups. She is firm in her belief that academic and research excellence can only be achieved when all individuals and groups are treated equitably, respectfully and fairly. Dr. Yates has combined her commitment to equity with a passion for governance and policy, strategic budgeting and institutional innovation. 
 
Born and raised in a large family in a small town on the Prairies, Dr. Yates received her undergraduate degree from the University of Winnipeg before moving to Ontario where she completed her MA at Queen’s University and her PhD from Carleton University.
 
Beyond her university leadership roles, Dr. Yates has always been actively involved in community. Currently, she is member of the YWCA National Board, past President of the YWCA Hamilton, Director of the Automotive Policy Research Centre, a federal government appointment on the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council, and member of the partnership Board of the Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la mondialisation et le travail in Montreal.

Undergraduate Student, Bachelor of Science, College of Biological Science

Ghaid Asfour is an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Science program. She is an active member of the Guelph community. Whenever she is not in class or working, she loves to get involved in extra-curricular initiatives. She is passionate about equity, diversity, inclusion, and student affairs.

Undergraduate Student, Bachelor of Applied Science, College of Social and Applied Human Science

Tehmina is a mature-parent-student working towards her second undergraduate degree in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences at the University of Guelph. Her first degree is in Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) from McMaster University. She is passionate about supporting youth, women, and families, especially those from immigrant, refugee, and marginalized communities.

Professor, Department of History, College of Arts

Catherine Carstairs joined the Department of History in 2004, after a brief stint as an Assistant Professor at UBC. Before starting graduate school, she worked as a researcher on the Heritage Minutes. Her research and teaching focuses on gender history and the history of medicine in Canada and the US. Her current book project is on the history of oral health and social inequality in Canada, and she is beginning a project on the history of COVID-19.

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, College of Social and Applied Human Science

Professor Lee is a political theorist who specializes in contemporary political theory. Her research and teaching areas include continental philosophy, Marxism and critical theory, feminism, postmodernism, philosophy of social science, psychoanalysis, and Anglo-American theory on multiculturalism.

At graduate school comparative politics (developing world) was Lee's second field. Since she joined the Department in 1991, Lee has continued her interest in the field by teaching an undergraduate course in Chinese politics. Lee recently developed a new undergraduate course on human rights, which is a political theory course that focuses on development related issues.

Lee has published on a wide range of subjects. Her current project is a book-length comparative study of Chinese and Western thought on cultural crisis and political identity. Lee first began a systematic study of modern Chinese political thought (from late nineteenth century on) in 1997-1998, when she was invited as a Visiting Scholar in the Fairbank Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University.

University of Guelph Alumni Community

Alex heads up Manulife’s insurance business in Canada and is responsible for driving Manulife’s growth strategy in the Canadian market. He oversees Insurance product and pricing, underwriting, sales, strategy and planning.

Before joining the Insurance Leadership Team in 2013, Alex was the VP of Product and Marketing at Manulife Bank where he led advertising, strategic planning, communications and product development activities. He has also held roles in Group Retirement Savings operations and Affinity Markets product development. Early in his career, Alex worked in mutual fund sales, branch banking and strategy at one of Canada’s largest banks.

Alex is a family man and spends his time outside of work trying to keep up with his two energetic young children. He has a passion for skiing, hiking, ultimate frisbee and once dreamt of making the NBA. When that didn’t work out, he earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (Financial Services) from Dalhousie University. He also has a Bachelor of Commerce (Management Economics) from the University of Guelph and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Board of Governors

A graduate of the University of Guelph (2002, 2007), Naki Osutei has built a career driving impact across the not-for-profit, public and private sectors. Today Naki is the Associate Vice President, Social Impact (Canada) for the Global Corporate Citizenship department at TD Bank. Naki joined TD in 2017 to help develop The Ready Commitment, TD's global corporate citizenship platform. Today her team helps bring The Ready Commitment to life through: corporate philanthropy; the engagement of employees beyond traditional volunteering; and strategic initiatives including the TD Ready Challenge, an annual innovation competition, the national United Way employee giving campaign and the TD Scholarships for Community Leadership. Prior to coming to TD, Naki worked in Executive Talent Management at CIBC supporting the development of executives and 'near-executives' while also working to diversify the executive pipeline; was an HR Director for, and led the corporate diversity and legacy strategies for the TORONTO2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games; and developed several city-building projects and leadership development programs at CivicAction, including co-creating DiverseCity Fellows, North America's first "civic MBA". She is also an avid volunteer, currently serving as a member of the Board of Governors of University of Guelph. She has previously served on the Boards of Seneca College, West Neighbourhood House, was the Co-Director, Coaching and Curation for TEDxToronto and is an alumni of BMW Foundation’s Responsible Leaders Forum.

Graduate Student, Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology, College of Biological Science

Jehoshua Sharma is a Ph.D. student from Trinidad and Tobago, currently at the University of Guelph in Ontario. Jehoshua is studying alternatives to antimicrobials and is using CRISPR to understand the functional genomics of the pathogen Candida albicans in the lab of Dr. Rebecca Shapiro. Outside of the lab, Jehoshua is a co-founder of cGEM, a Canadian-wide initiative that brings together research groups across Canada tasked with using synthetic biology to solve real-world problems. They aim is to give students access to the tools that they need to conduct research independently and communicate their research on a wider scale to the public. Additionally, they sit on Ontario Genomics’ Board of Directors as the first student member; centering discussions on trainee needs that will assist in the socioeconomic success of Ontario Genomics’ programs. Through talks and outreach events, Jehoshua has made it clear that a significant aspect of his work is scientific communication. Recently he also holds a position at his home department’s equity, diversity and inclusion committee, whereby he is advocating for changes that promote the presence of BIPOC researchers through changing recruitment and hiring policies.

Dean, Ontario Agricultural College and Professor, Department of Plant Agriculture

Rene VanAcker is the Dean of the Ontario Agricultural College and a professor in the Department of Plant Agriculture. Previously, Van Acker was OAC’s associate dean (external relations), and chaired the Department of Plant Agriculture from 2006 to 2009. A leading expert on weed management and biosafety, he remains an active faculty member, supervising graduate students and teaching. He has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers.

He holds a B.Sc. in crop science and a master’s degree in weed science from U of G, and a PhD in crop-weed ecology from the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.

Manager, Indigenous Student Centre

Natasha Young (she/they) is a member of Whitefish River First Nation, a Registered Social Worker and is the Manager of the Indigenous Student Centre in the department of Student Experience. Natasha has been a professional staff member at the University of Guelph for over ten years and completed both her BA and MA degrees at the University of Guelph in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences. Natasha is continually engaged with several committees and initiatives both on and off-campus including the Steering Committee for the U of G Indigenous Initiatives Strategy, Bi-Naagwad | It Comes Into View, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Group of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers.