The University of Windsor (UWindsor) invites applications, nominations, and expressions of interest for its eighth President and Vice-Chancellor, with the appointment to be effective ideally in July 2025.
The University welcomes over 16,000 students to a range of comprehensive and research-intensive graduate and undergraduate programs. The University consists of nine faculties and professional schools, which include Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Science; Human Kinetics; Education; Law; Engineering; Nursing; Business; and Graduate Studies, and a medical program offered in partnership with Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry. With an annual operating budget of over $335 million, the University is one of the largest employers in Windsor, with approximately 2,500 faculty and staff members across academic, administrative, and student service areas.
The University of Windsor is an anchor institution in Windsor-Essex, with the privilege and responsibility of living, learning, working, and creating partnerships in the region. The University brings global perspectives, emerging knowledge, and leadership to the table in addressing regional challenges. It is integral in growing and supporting the Windsor-Essex region, leading and collaborating with government, local partners, and others on research and innovation relating to automobility, autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, agriculture and greenhouse technology, healthy Great Lakes, cross-border studies, and viable, healthy, and safe communities, among others. UWindsor researchers are safeguarding the health of our environment, and the social, cultural and economic fabric of the region by developing policy and technologies that enhance the human experience while mitigating the adverse effects of a changing world.
UWindsor researchers also engage in research that has national and international significance and impact. The University’s research revenue has surged by 25% in 2023-24 to total over $40 million. The annual ranking of Canada’s Innovation Leaders 2024, published by Research Infosource Inc., has named UWindsor as one of the top research universities in Canada, ranking it number one in garnering the greatest percentage of its total research funding from international government sources and second in Canada for the percentage of its publications related to artificial intelligence research. The University of Windsor continues to rise among the world’s leading institutions, securing its place within the top 26 per cent of universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education (THE) 2025 World University Rankings and improving its placement among the world’s top 400 sustainable institutions. The QS World University Rankings, released in June 2024, proclaimed the University of Windsor as the most improved Canadian institution. The global list ranked UWindsor 547 of the more than 5,600 universities evaluated worldwide, an improvement of about 100 spots since 2021.
The University’s unique position on an international border between Canada and the United States has contributed to its identity as a diverse University community providing rich cultural, recreational, and educational opportunities for faculty and students. Much like the City of Windsor, the University of Windsor is multi-cultural, with 25% of the student body hailing from nearly 100 countries.
The University of Windsor has undergone major campus renewal and modernization investments over the last decade. The campus transformation plan was kicked off by the largest single capital investment in its history with the introduction of the new Ed Lumley Centre for Engineering Innovation, followed by the expansion of the University’s campus into the downtown core of Windsor where the School of Creative Arts, School of Social Work, School of Computer Science and Continuing Education departments have relocated to new and renovated historical buildings. In 2022, the University completed a $73-million expansion of the University’s athletics and recreation facilities, the Toldo Lancer Centre (TLC). Welcoming nearly 1-million visitors per year, the TLC acts as a community hub, improving the health of Windsor-Essex residents and students alike. In 2023, the University completed a major renovation of the Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building resulting in new classrooms, a reimagined library, and new collaborative spaces. Most recently, the University has entered into a a public-private partnership for the development of a new residence, slated to open in Fall 2025.
It is within this context that the University has also identified its critical strategic role within the local community and beyond by focusing on key priorities such as knowledge creation, economic diversification, labour-force stability, quality of life and cultural vibrancy, contributing to an active, well-informed citizenry and civic leadership. The University has also recently developed its strategic plan, Aspire: Together for Tomorrow. Aspire is the culmination of a multi-year process that engaged numerous interest groups and identified strategic priorities and an institutional vision for the future.
The President and Vice-Chancellor will be a leader who can take the institution to new heights along the trajectory of transformation of the past decade. They will guide the institution in providing the education pathways that students of today and tomorrow are seeking, in pursuing and applying research and creative strengths to the community’s and society’s greatest challenges, and in helping to enrich the economic and cultural fabric of the region. Articulate, consultative, and strategic with a commitment to action, the new President and Vice-Chancellor will be passionate about the history and promise of the University of Windsor and will ensure its distinctive position in Canada’s postsecondary landscape. For the Presidential mandate and profile, request the Executive Brief at: UWindsorPresident@lavernesmith.com.
The University of Windsor is a welcoming community committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in its teaching, learning, and work environments. In pursuit of the University’s Employment Equity Plan, members from the designated groups (women, Indigenous/Aboriginal (First Nations, Metis, Inuit) persons, racialized persons/visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and persons of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity) are encouraged to apply and to self-identify.
If you need an accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify Laverne Smith & Associates at UWindsorPresident@lavernesmith.com. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
This is a six-year renewable term position offering competitive compensation and benefits, including a presidential residence. The consultants will begin the review of candidates immediately, with committee consultation beginning in the new year. The search will continue until the position is successfully filled. Applications, including curriculum vitae, a letter of introduction and the names (not letters) of three references (who will not be contacted without consent of the applicant) should be submitted, in confidence, to the University's executive search consultants:
Laverne Smith & Associates Inc.
UWindsorPresident@lavernesmith.com
The University of Windsor is situated on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations: the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi.
