The Board of Directors and staff of Mitacs congratulate its CEO and Scientific Director, Dr. Arvind Gupta, on his appointment as the 13th President and Vice Chancellor of the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Gupta is a well-regarded expert in science and innovation policy with a proven track record in building meaningful research collaborations between Canadian businesses and universities. Having joined Mitacs in 2000, he led Mitacs from a federally funded Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) into the largest independent not-for-profit in Canada focused on developing the next generation of researchers through a suite of cutting-edge programs. Mitacs currently funds over 2,000 research projects annually involving graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and companies, trains more than 6,000 students in essential business and entrepreneurship skills and provides two-way mobility initiatives for students from Canada and around the world to undertake research abroad.
“For nearly fifteen years, Arvind has provided exemplary leadership to Mitacs while fostering innovation and collaboration between Canada’s universities and companies and playing a key role in developing international research linkages,” said Brad Bennett, Chairman of the Board of Mitacs. “We are thrilled that he is moving on to lead UBC and leaving Mitacs in a strong position with a very committed and capable executive team and Board of Directors.”
In 2012, Dr. Gupta was appointed to the Government of Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC). In 2010, he was appointed to the six-member expert panel to review federal support to industrial research and development. The recommendations from the Jenkins Panel Report “Innovation Canada: A Call to Action” have had a significant impact on federal innovation policy and many have been adopted by the Government of Canada.
A regular speaker on research and innovation policy across Canada with public, private and academic audiences, Dr. Gupta is also active on international innovation issues with invited appearances in Mexico, the UK, Germany, Australia, India, Brazil and the US. He is a frequent contributor to the national dialogue through opinion editorials on international collaboration, international competitiveness, innovation and productivity.
Dr. Gupta obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1991 and is currently a Professor of Computer Science at UBC. He sits on a number of boards including the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, the Banff International Research Stations, the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute, the Canadian Mining Innovation Council, Mprime Network, Mitacs and GRAND-NCE.
Dr. Gupta will remain CEO and Scientific Director until June 30, 2014, and will sit on the Board of Directors of Mitacs, replacing current UBC president Professor Stephen Toope. The Mitacs Board will immediately undertake a search for his replacement.
