A. Scott Carson, Chair (Acting) of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), announced today the appointment of Janice M. Deakin, PhD. as HEQCO’s third President and CEO, effective August 1.
Janice Deakin served for eight years as the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) at Western University. This followed nearly 25 years at Queen’s University, where she rose to the level of Associate Vice-Principal (Academic) and Dean of the School of Graduate and Post Doctoral Studies. Deakin is widely published within her field of skill acquisition and expert performance and has written technical reports for agencies including the Department of National Defense, NATO and Sport Canada.
Deakin is the former Chair of the Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents and has served as the President of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology and the Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators. She holds three undergraduate degrees from Queen’s University, a Master of Science degree from McMaster University, and a PhD in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo. Deakin has been named one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada by the Women’s Executive Network.
“Janice Deakin brings to HEQCO an exceptional record of achievement as a higher education leader and researcher,” said Carson. “Council members are pleased to welcome her at this critical time.”
“The opportunity to lead an agency that plays an important role in improving the quality of and accessibility to higher education in Ontario is an exciting one for me,” said Deakin. “I look forward to forging strong and productive relationships with leaders in Ontario’s colleges and universities as we identify and address emerging opportunities and challenges resulting from this time of unprecedented disruption in our sector and beyond.”
HEQCO, an agency of the Government of Ontario, was established in 2005 to research and evaluate the postsecondary education system and provide policy advice to the Minister of Colleges and Universities.