Dal Board of Governors appoints new university president

Dalhousie University will officially have a new president by 2020.

On May 16, Dalhousie’s Board of Governors announced Dr. Deep Saini will succeed Richard Florizone, taking on the role of the university’s 12th president and vice-chancellor. According to a press release from the Dal communications team, Saini was the unanimous choice of the Presidential Search Committee.

Saini is currently Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra in Australia. He’s previously worked as the vice-president of the University of Toronto while also holding the position of U of T Mississauga.

“The university’s singular commitment to its anchor role in the region’s economic and social development is fittingly matched to its lofty national and global aspirations — a balance  that I have espoused throughout my career and will form the cornerstone of my leadership at Dal,” Saini said in the release.

Saini will officially begin his five-year term at Dal on January 1. In the meantime, Interim President Peter MacKinnon is slated to finish his term on June 30, so the Board of Governors will be review options for interim leadership for the rest of 2019.