THE GOVERNING COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2025
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL
Wednesday, March 26, 2025
Governing Council Chamber, Simcoe Hal
PRESENT: Anna Kennedy (Chair)*, Sandra Hanington (Vice-Chair)*, Meric S. Gertler, (President), Wesley Hall (Chancellor), Donald Ainslie, Sharleen Ahmed, Laurent Bozec, Jovan Bursac, Vikram Chadalawada, Janet Cloud, Ann Curran, Ramy Elitzur, K. Sonu Gaind, Thomas Hofmann, Paul Huyer, Sarosh Jamal, Linda Johnston, Audrey Karlinsky, Mark Lautens*, Ron Levi, Scott MacKendrick, Brian Madden, Rajiv Mathur*, Douglas McDougall, Cameron Miranda-Radbord, Andrew Petersen, William Verreault, Grace Westcott, Mary-Agnes Wilson, Trevor Young
*Member of the Presidential Search Committee
Sheree Drummond (Secretary of the Governing Council)
REGRETS: Aarthi Ashok, Glen Bandiera, Amanda Bartley, Luca Calabretta, Robert Cooper, Liam Dravid, Samuel Elfassy, Indi Gopinathan, Ankita Goyat, Maureen Harquail, David Jacobs, Akina Lalla, Kikelomo Lawal, Joanne McNamara, Eha Naylor, Maya Povhe, Danielle Skipp, David Zingg
SECRETARIAT: Miranda Edwards (Recording Secretary), Joanne Chou, Cindy Ferencz-Hammond, Timothy Harlick
GUESTS IN ATTENDANCE:
Members of the Presidential Search Committee in attendance: Corwin Cambray, Annabelle Dravid, Susan Froom, Candice Jay, Pamela Klassen, Mary Lyne, Akwasi Owsusu-Bempah, Arthur Ripstein, Firdaus Sadid
Leah Cowen (Vice-President, Research & Innovation, and Strategic Partnerships), Alexandra Gillespie (Vice-President and Principal, UTM), Kelly Hannah-Moffat (Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity and Culture), Scott Mabury (Vice-President, Operations and Real Estate Partnerships), David Palmer (Vice-President, Advancement), Christina Szustaczek (Vice-President, Communications), Andrew Thomson (Chief of Government Relations), Joseph Wong (Vice-President, International), Larry Alford (Chief Librarian), Heather Boon (Vice-Provost, Faculty & Academic Life), Nicholas Rule (Vice-Provost, Academic Programs), Archana Sridhar (Assistant Provost), Kristin Taylor (University Counsel and Chief Legal Officer), Sandy Welsh (Vice-Provost, Students), Elizabeth Church (Director, Stakeholder Relations), David Curtin (Director, Communications Services), Nadina Jamison (Chief Strategy Officer, Office of the President), Bryn MacPherson (Assistant Vice-President, Office of the President & Chief of Protocol), Alex Matos (Director, Internal Audit), Susan Mazza (Special Projects Officer, Office of the President), Catherine Riddell (Assistant Vice-President, Communications), Joshua Barker (Vice-Provost, Graduate Research and Education, and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies), Dwayne Benjamin (Vice-Provost, Graduate Research and Education, and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies), Audelyn Budihardjo (Assistant Director, Internal Audit), Carol Chin (Principal, Woodsworth College), Susan Christofferson (Dean, Rotman School of Management), Meg Connell (Senior Strategist, Office of the Vice-President and Provost), Christina da Rocha-Feeley (Director of Operations, Office of the Governing Council), Philippe Devos (Director, Media Relations), Alex Hernandez (Principal, Victoria College), Melissa Hill (Executive Director, Communications & Public Affairs, Arts & Science), Charlie Keil (Principal, Innis College), Christina Magill (Executive Assistant to the President), Peter Martin (Associate Director, CITA), Angelique Saweczk (University Registrar, VPSEM), Sali Tagliamonte (Acting Principal, University College), Kevin Temple (Director, Strategic Content, A&S Advancement), Daniela Trapani (Executive Assistant to the Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science), Daniel Lobay (Perrett Laver)
PURSUANT TO SECTION 38 OF AND 46 (C) OF BY-LAW NUMBER 2, THE GOVERNING COUNCIL CONSIDERED THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE IN CAMERA WITH MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH COMMITTEE AND MR. GORDON LOBAY INVITED TO ATTEND.
IN CAMERA SESSION
- Senior Appointment
Following discussion in camera
On motion duly moved, seconded, and carried,
IT WAS RESOLVED
THAT Professor Melanie Woodin be appointed President of the University of Toronto, effective on July 1, 2025, and continuing to June 30, 2030 and for up to an additional five years, subject to a review not later than the fall of 2029 by the Executive Committee of the Governing Council and a subsequent determination by the Governing Council and by Professor Woodin that continuation of the term is mutually agreeable.
THE GOVERNING COUNCIL MOVED TO OPEN SESSION
The Chair escorted Dean Woodin into the Council Chamber. Members stood and applauded Dean Woodin.
OPEN SESSION
- Chair’s Remarks
The Chair, Anna Kennedy, welcomed guests and thanked them for their patience while the Governing Council met in camera. She announced that the Council had approved the appointment of Professor Melanie Woodin as the seventeenth President of the University of Toronto effective July 1, 2025, and continuing to June 30, 2030, and for up to an additional five years.
On behalf of all governors, she congratulated Dean Woodin. Members and guests applauded.
The Chair repeated, for the public record, a summary of Dean Woodin’s accomplishments and talents.
- She is a highly respected scholar - a Professor in the Department of Cell & Systems Biology, she is the author or co-author of over 50 academic papers, books and chapters.
- She is an experienced academic leader, as Dean of Canada’s largest and most comprehensive Faculty.
- She has a deep dedication to the University and its excellence, with experience leading during challenging times.
- She brings a comprehensive understanding of the complexity of the University of Toronto and its extended eco-system, and the importance of building trusted relationships to effectively navigate this complexity as well as to pursue meaningful change.
- She has a demonstrated commitment to students and to elevating the quality of their experience, paired with a bold, trust-based approach to building student engagement.
- She is a strategic leader with a proven ability to articulate a clear vision, and to building and leading high-functioning teams.
- She has an enthusiasm for and demonstrated success in fundraising, coupled with an unwavering commitment to the University’s essential values respecting academic freedom.
- She brings a deep recognition of the importance of strengthening the faith of decision-makers and the public in our higher education system, and the importance of the University as a trusted source of ideas, research, innovation and talent.
- She has a comprehensive understanding of the key issues facing the university sector in general and the University of Toronto in particular, and a positive vision for a path forward.
- She has an unwavering commitment to inclusive excellence, and a belief in the transformative impact of universities.
- She has experience in working with Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty, staff, and students to strengthen research and teaching capacity in Indigenous studies.
- She has experience building and strengthening a wide range of external partnerships.
- She is a strong and inspiring communicator, marked by authenticity and empathy.
- And, she has an infectious optimism and ambition for the University, and the confidence to lead it into its third century.
The Chair indicated that Professor Woodin’s experience and accomplishments were combined with evidence of resilience, values-based and principled decisiveness, successful problem-solving, sound judgement, personal warmth, and a reputation for integrity.
The Chair then thanked President Meric Gertler for his exceptional leadership over more than a decade. Over this lengthy period, which had included a global pandemic, President Gertler had provided outstanding leadership and had led the University to even greater heights, truly helping it to ‘defy gravity’. Members applauded President Gertler for his service.
The Chair then invited the President to address the Council. His remarks are attached hereto as Appendix A.
Following the President’s remarks the Chair invited President-Designate Woodin to address the Council. Her remarks are attached hereto as Appendix B.
The Chair congratulated Professor Woodin again and said that she looked forward to working with her as President.
The Chair concluded the meeting by thanking members for attending the special meeting. She thanked them for all their contributions and for their dedication to the University.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.
April 2, 2025
APPENDIX A
President Meric Gertler’s Remarks to the Governing Council
March 26, 2025
Good morning, everyone.
On behalf of the University of Toronto, let me begin by offering my warmest congratulations to the outstanding individual who has been designated to serve as our next President – Professor Melanie Woodin.
Let me also express our deep gratitude to Anna Kennedy and the members of the Search Committee. They took on a crucial task with great dedication and diligence. And they conducted a rigorous process of outreach, consultation and deliberation that has produced an absolutely brilliant result. Please join me in thanking Anna and the Committee for their exemplary service.
Professor Melanie Woodin’s appointment to serve as the 17th President of the University of Toronto is a wise and auspicious decision.
She is eminently qualified for the role – as a scientist, teacher and mentor; as a leader and as a person. As Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science during a uniquely challenging time in our history, Professor Woodin has demonstrated outstanding, multifaceted talents as an administrator. She has commanded deep knowledge of an academic division that is larger and more complex than many entire universities. She has shown a keen appreciation of the vital contributions made by all disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences and sciences, as well as the professions. And she has demonstrated a wonderful gift for collaboration with other deans across the University.
Professor Woodin has proved to be an energetic champion of our faculty, librarians and staff, and a steadfast defender of academic freedom. She has developed strong relationships with our alumni and many of our leading benefactors. And above all, it is abundantly clear that she is passionately committed to the success and wellbeing of our students. She has also earned the respect and trust of colleagues in her own field of academic expertise, across Canada and well beyond, as a renowned scholar and leader.
Speaking personally, I am so proud of the fact that Professor Woodin was appointed as Dean on my watch as President. And it has been a great pleasure to see her blossom and excel in the role.
Melanie is a dynamic, creative and consultative leader, and a problem-solver par excellence. The University has had to manage some major challenges over the past several years, and Melanie has been a huge asset in helping us do so.
I know, from my own time as Dean, that leading the Faculty of Arts & Science is an ideal warm-up act for the top job. And I know, from my time as President, that Melanie has what it takes to lead the University of Toronto from strength to strength in the years to come.
She will be a very effective leader of our tri-campus community, and a respected collaborator with our federated universities and hospital partners. She will be an outstanding advocate with our partners in academia, government, industry and civil society. And she will be a dynamic source of inspiration for our alumni and supporters, across Canada and around the world.
All in all, her appointment bodes extremely well for the University of Toronto, as we prepare to enter the third century in our history, at a time when our sector faces unprecedented challenges.
I look forward to working with Melanie to ensure a smooth transition of the presidency over the next three months. I’m also looking forward to accompanying Melanie on a very busy round of celebrations across our three campuses, today and tomorrow.
I know that we’re all very keen to hear from our President-designate on this auspicious occasion. So now, I am pleased to ask our Chair, Anna Kennedy, to invite Professor Melanie Woodin to take the podium.
APPENDIX B
President-Designate Melanie Woodin's Remarks to the Governing Council
March 26, 2025
Thank you, Chair Kennedy and President Gertler, for your kind words and for your leadership.
Good morning to everyone here in the Chamber and with us online.
I want to thank Chair Kennedy, the Presidential Search Committee, and the U of T’s Governing Council for putting your faith and trust in me to lead the University through the next chapter of its incredible history.
I am deeply honored to have been selected to serve as the 17th President of the University of Toronto.
What an exceptional time for our institution. One of the great universities of the world embarking on its third century.
And our historical milestone comes at an extraordinary time for humanity:
- a time when the global balance of power is shifting.
- a time of growing inequity.
- A time when discoveries that were made right here at the University of Toronto have captured the world’s attention.
- When University Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Hinton was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics the impact of his work was compared to the discovery of fire and the industrial revolution. I can think of no better evidence of the importance of curiosity driven research, and no clearer demonstration of the impact of our university on the world.
So, as I embark on leading U of T into its next chapter, with optimism – I ask you to join me in dreaming big.
I recognize that I’m talking about leading with ambition at a time when the world is in turmoil, marked by deep divisions, political conflict, and looming existential threats. At a time when academic freedom is threatened. And at a time when funding for higher education is constrained. These challenges are very real; they are testing our capacity to stay focused on our mission of excellence in teaching and research.
As President, I’ll work to restore the faith of decision makers and the public in higher education. I understand that this will be no easy task, and that is ok, because we do hard things here at the University of Toronto every day. And I know we are up to the challenge.
We have so much to offer Ontarians, Canadians, and indeed, the world.
U of T is a dynamic hub for transformative education and research. We are also an engine of economic growth and opportunity, and a conduit for social mobility. Our focus on inclusive excellence guides our commitment to educating engaged citizens and future leaders at a scale and diversity that is unrivaled. And when those students graduate, they join our growing community of alumni, which now includes more than 700,000 individuals who are leading in every sector imaginable.
We are a research powerhouse that Defies Gravity. We have a unique ability to convene great minds from across our three campuses – and with our partners – to solve seemingly intractable problems. Through our investments in interdisciplinarity, we have become an international leader in advanced materials and accelerated our plan to be a climate positive campus.
We are a university that is inspired by its exceptional students. The University of Toronto was founded as King’s College in 1827, as the first institution in Upper Canada to educate undergraduate students. And today, almost 200 years later, students remain at the core of our purpose, as they study at all levels and in all disciplines. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t have the opportunity to engage with students, whether on a committee or in the coffee line. Regardless of the setting – I always leave with an immense sense of pride that these inspiring students chose to study with us. As President, I look forward to working closely with our Provost, Deans, and Professors, to advance pedagogical innovations that enhance student learning and to build local campus communities where every student finds their home.
I am so grateful for President Gertler’s exceptional leadership and his vision. He has expertly guided us through immensely challenging times. The University is well positioned to navigate the road ahead because of his dedication and his thoughtful and balanced approach. Thank you, President Gertler, for everything you have given to this community, your field and higher education. You have been an incredible champion for us and for the best that we can be.
I wrote in my cover letter to the Presidential Seach committee that the President of the University of Toronto needs to be our greatest advocate. I’ve dedicated my career to post-secondary education because I deeply believe in its purpose and value to society. So let me be very clear when I say that I am unabashed in my pride for our great institution, and I’ll use this Presidency to ensure that every Canadian knows that the University of Toronto is here for them and that together we are having a transformational impact on the world.
Thank you.