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The installation ceremony for Professor Alexandra Gillespie as the University of Toronto Mississauga’s 10th vice-president and principal will begin on April 29 at 6 p.m.

An internationally renowned scholar, Gillespie assumed the role of vice-president of U of T, and principal of U of T Mississauga on July 1, 2020. Her five-year appointment runs until Dec. 31, 2025.

The  marks a significant milestone and recognizes the new leadership and direction Gillespie brings to U of T Mississauga. Dignitaries in attendance will include U of T President Meric Gertler and Professor Cheryl Regehr, vice-president and provost, as well as honoured guests from the U of T Mississauga community, including Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, retired Court of Appeal judge Justice Harry Laforme, Elder Valarie King and Councillor Veronica King-Jamieson of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

Since assuming the role of vice-president and principal, Gillespie has built on the momentum of U of T Mississauga’s past growth, with special focus on enabling excellence in student and faculty research; developing inclusive communities and sustainable spaces; and inspiring academic innovation for student success. Recognized as a dynamic and creative leader, she remains dedicated to building partnerships, both internally and externally, and augmenting well-being across the U of T Mississauga community and beyond.

A scholar of 14th-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer, Gillespie joined U of T Mississauga as an assistant professor in 2004. In 2010, she won U of T Mississauga’s Award for Undergraduate Teaching Excellence in recognition of her outstanding work in the classroom and as a mentor to student researchers. In 2016, she founded the Jackman Humanities Institute’s . Prior to joining U of T Mississauga, Gillespie worked as a management consultant in New Zealand’s education sector. She was a Bradley-Maxwell Junior Research Fellow at Balliol College in Oxford, and a Munby Fellow at Cambridge University Library.

Gillespie holds a DPhil and MSt in English from the University of Oxford, where she studied as a Rhodes Scholar, after completing her BA (Hons) in English at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

, which will be presided over by Regehr, will premiere on YouTube to accommodate the need for physical distancing due to COVID-19.

Gillespie succeeds Professor Ian Orchard, who served as acting vice-president & principal from Sept. 2019 to June 2020, and Professor Ulrich Krull, vice-president & principal from July 2017 to June 2020.