The following is a message prepared by Dean Paul McDonald, Faculty of Health:
Professor Maz Fallah announced in December 2020 that he had accepted a wonderful opportunity to serve as the new dean of the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Guelph. Following his announcement, I began consultations with senior faculty members and staff to identify a new associate dean, research. I want to thank the many people who took time to speak with me, provide their thoughts on the desirable attributes of our next associate dean, research, and nominate potential colleagues for consideration. The consultation revealed that we have several outstanding colleagues who would make excellent associate deans.
After careful consideration, I am pleased to announce that Associate Professor Chris Ardern from the School of Kinesiology and Health Science has graciously accepted my invitation to serve as our next associate dean, research. For Chris to complete his current obligation as the GPD in his School, he will begin his new role as associate dean on July 1, 2021. Professor Ardern is well known across the University and highly respected. He began his appointment at York immediately after completing his PhD from Queen’s University in 2006 and was promoted to associate professor in 2011.
During his time at York, Professor Ardern has been a member of YU-CARE (an ORU concerned with Healthy Aging), and an associate coordinator with the Statistical Consulting Service. He has served as interim GPD on two occasions, on the University Senate, the Faculty of Health’s Executive and Planning Committee, the Graduate Executive Committee in Kinesiology and Health Science, multiple hiring committees, T and P file preparation committees, and more than a dozen other committees. His research on the epidemiology of physical activity and obesity has resulted in projects funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Ontario Brain Institute, MITACS, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Chris has published more than 90 peer-reviewed papers in top journals, as well as dozens of chapters, reports, conference presentations and invited lectures. He is the associate editor for two international journals. Professor Ardern is a highly experienced graduate and post-doctoral supervisor and thesis committee member. In short, Professor Ardern is an accomplished research leader with a strong understanding of research excellence, our Faculty and the University.
I am also pleased to announce that Associate Professor Michael Rotondi from the School of Kinesiology and Health Science has accepted my invitation to serve as the interim associate dean, research from Feb. 1 to June 30. Michael joined York in 2011 shortly after completing his PhD in biostatistics from the University of Western Ontario. He was promoted to associate professor in 2015. Michael is one of only a very few people to receive the Faculty of Health’s Dean’s awards for both Research and Teaching. He has won both doctoral and post-doctoral awards from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). He has won multiple CIHR grants as principal investigator and served as a co-investigator or collaborator on several others. He has published several dozen peer-reviewed journal papers, developed three software innovations, and supervised seven graduate students. Michael’s service includes award and research committees at both the Faculty and institutional level. He has been a member of Kinesiology’s Academic Executive Committee and chaired an Ethics Review Committee.
I want to express my thanks to Professors Ardern and Rotondi for agreeing to serve the University and Faculty in the role of associate dean, research. This collegial leadership role is important as our Faculty seeks to move to the next level of research and graduate student success and impact. I know I can count on our entire community to support and work with Chris and Michael. I also wish to thank the Faculty’s research staff who have done a wonderful job supporting me over the last month.
Paul McDonald
Dean, Faculty of Health
