Showing 12437 results

Queen's is distinguished from all but a handful of other Canadian universities by the fact that its most powerful official is a "Principal," not a "President." This reflects the University's Scottish heritage: the University's founders chose this more modest title, which emphasizes the Principal's role as an academic among academics, in imitation of Edinburgh University, their model for Queen's. At first, the Principal of Queen's had to be a Presbyterian minister and always held the concurrent position of Primarius Professor of Theology; that requirement formally ended in 1912, when Queen's separated from the Presbyterian Church. Still, the old tradition proved persistent; the string of Principals who were ministers was not broken until 1929. Since then the office has been held by a geologist, a classicist, two political scientists, three economists and a biologist.

Throughout, as chief academic and executive officer, the Principal has remained the University's most important official. The Principal is accountable to the Board of Trustees for the management of the University (for administration, budget, and staffing, for example), and to the Senate for the implementation of academic policies. The Principal chairs the Senate and serves as the link between Queen's two principal governing bodies. The administrative responsibilities that accompany the office are considerable: the Principal is responsible for setting the overall budget allocations for each faculty and school, in consultation with the Vice-Principals and the Deans; the Principal as well must approve every academic appointment, promotion, or award of tenure or leave, after receiving recommendations from the Vice-Principal (Academic) and relevant dean and department head.

The Principal also plays a major role in policy-making by formulating proposals for the academic and physical development of the University for consideration by the Board and the Senate. An important role in formulating policies is also played by advisory committees under the Principal's authority. In recent years these have included the committees advising on the status of women, gender issues, race relations, alcohol awareness, disabilities, resource issues and corporate involvement. The Principal, or his delegate, is a member of most Board and Senate committees, and the Principal chairs, the Senate Agenda Committee, and the Senate Committee on Honorary Degrees, as well as the Executive Committee of the University Council and all committees to select Vice-Principals and Deans. The Principal is also responsible for representing the university on such external bodies as the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC).

Since 1974, Principals have been appointed for five-year terms, renewable subject to review. The formal authority for the appointment of the Principal rests under the Royal Charter with the Board of Trustees. Recent Principals have been selected by a joint committee of Trustees and Senators including , faculty, students, alumni, trustees and staff. There has been some confusion about the official numbering of Queen's Principals because the University was led by an acting principal for four years in the 1850s. The current convention is to include that Acting Principal in the official count.

Principals since 1841:
The Rev Thomas Liddell (1841-1846)
The Rev John Machar (1846-1853)
The Rev James George (acting Principal 1853-1857)
The Rev John Cook (1857-1859)
The Rev William Leitch (1859-1864)
The Rev William Snodgrass (1864-1877)
The Rev George Monro Grant (1877-1902)
The Rev Daniel Miner Gordon (1902-1916)
The Rev Robert Bruce Taylor (1917-1929)
Sir William Hamilton Fyfe (1930-1936)
Robert Charles Wallace (1936-1951)
William Archibald Mackintosh (1951-1961)
James Alexander Corry (1961-1968)
John James Deutsch (1968-1974)
Ronald Lampman Watts (1974-1984)
David Chadwick Smith (1984-1994)
William Claude Leggett (1994-2004)
Karen R. Hitchcock (2004-2008)
Thomas R. Williams (2008-2009)
Daniel Robert Woolf (2009 to present)

Vice-Principal Academic began in 1966 with Frederick W. Gibson as the first VP Academic. The position was primarily responsible for overall academic planning. George A. Harrower was appointed as Vice-Principal Academic in June 1969. Harrower remained in this position until April 30 1976 when a reorganization that saw the elimination of the Vice-Principal Academic. However, in 1995, a restructuring of the vice-principal portfolios by Principal Leggett resulted in the formation of the Vice-Principal Academic position once again. David Turpin served as the first Vice-Principal Academic in this new iteration. The role of Vice-Principal Academic was further changed in 2009 with the additional title and responsibilities of Provost.

The position of Rector, unique among Canadian universities, was established in 1912 and modelled after similar positions at Scottish universities. The primary function of the Rector is to represent students on the Board of Trustees. Some Rectors, however, have also used the office in a more informal way to help students with administrative problems by providing information and advice.

The Rector also has certain ceremonial responsibilities, the most important of which is to join the Chancellor and the Principal on the dais at convocations. The Rector is frequently called upon to represent students on university committees, such as those which select the Principal and honorary degree recipients.

The Rector was previously elected by students to a three-year term (now a two-year term), but until 1969 no students were chosen; instead, the Rector tended to be some prominent friend of Queen's, such as the senior public servant O.D. Skelton (1929-1935), former Prime Minister R.B. Bennett (1935-1937), and the businessman and chair of the CBC Leonard Brockington (1947-1968). In 1969, students forced the resignation of the Rector, Senator Grattan O'Leary – since that time, students have been elected to the post ever since.

The Office of the Sesquicentennial was created to coordinate and administer the numerous events and activities associated with the 150th Anniversary celebrations of the University. Once the "year of celebration" was concluded, the Office was phased out.

The position of University Chaplain dates from the end of the Second World War. University officials, concerned about the special needs and difficulties of veterans returning to classes, hired a special "Advisor to Ex-Service Personnel," the Reverend Jack Leng, to provide support and counsel for students. The position was given a broader mandate and retitled "University Chaplain" in 1947, when Leng was replaced by the Reverend Dr. A. Marshall Laverty. At that time, the position was unique among Canadian universities; today it is becoming rare again, as other universities dispense with the office. Padre Laverty, or just "the Padre" as he was more commonly known, filled the post until 1983, when he turned 70, after having served as the University Chaplain for 36.5 years. The second University Chaplain also came from the United Church: Brian Yealland, who was appointed to the position of University Chaplain following Laverty's retirement. Yealland would go on to serve as the University Chaplain for 30 years before retiring in June 2013. Kate Johnson was appointed as Inter-faith Chaplain at Queen's in 2013.
The Chaplain now has several main duties: he or she officiates at ceremonial University occasions such as Convocation; assists students and staff on behalf of the University when there is a death or other serious occurrence in the family, or on campus; and provides a source of counselling or support on a drop-in basis for all members of the Queen's community. The Chaplain also coordinates the chaplaincy team and the Interfaith Council. The position of Chaplain is officially a non-sectarian one.

This important administrative office plans and administers comprehensive enrollment management services including: undergraduate student recruitment and admissions; student record collection, maintenance and retention; scholarships (undergraduate) and financial assistance (all students); tuition fee assessment and collection; many academic support services including exams, convocation, registration, course evaluations and classroom allocation and prepares reports for the provincial government for operating grant purposes. It consists of three main units: Student Records and Services/Faculty Services, the Student Awards Office, and Student Information Systems. The University Registrar is responsible for all these units. The Office of the University Registrar reports to the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic).

The Chancellor Dunning Trust was established in 1946 by an anonymous donor who gave $100,000 to Queen's University to establish a permanent tribute to Chancellor Charles A. Dunning. The income from the Trust is to be used "to promote understanding and appreciation of the supreme importance of the dignity, freedom and responsibility of the individual person in human society."
The Trustees of Queen's University agreed that this goal may best be accomplished by bringing to Queen's distinguished speakers who would give public lectures and who would also meet with classes, groups and individuals at Queen's and in the local community.

The office of Vice-Principal Development and Information began with the appointment of James M Courtright on September 21 1970. This position was created to advise and assist the Board of Trustees in the development and execution of programs aimed at enlisting wider financial support of private persons. In addition, the VP Development and Information was to keep close contact with alumni organizations and benefactors and was responsible for the development and supervision of the information and news services of the university. The VP was also secretary of the University Council and the Trustees Fund Council. James Courtright remained in this position until his retirement in December 1979. At this point, the office of the Vice-Principal Development and Information was disbanded, and its responsibilities were dispersed between various positions, including the newly formed Executive Director of Communication and External Liaison in June 1980.

The position of Vice-Principal Finance began in 1965 during a reorganization of the administration of the University due to rapid growth at the time. The role of Vice-Principal Administration was examined, resulting in the transfer of all financial aspects of the University from it to form the Vice-Principal Finance position. The first Vice-Principal Finance was Lawrence G MacPherson in 1965. MacPherson retired on September 30 1971, and succeeded by David H. Bonham in October 1971. Another reorganization of the University's administration in 1976 resulted in the Vice-Principal Finance David Bonham to assume additional responsibilities for personnel and staff liaison, purchasing and food services, university information systems, and capital development and financing. In 1977, Bonham resigned and Richard J. Hand was appointed to the role. However, at this time, in order to reflect the additional responsibilities to the position, the name was changed from Vice-Principal Finances to Vice-Principal Resources.

The position of Vice-Principal Operations and Finance was created during the restructuring of Vice-Principal portfolios under Principal Leggett. Vice-Principal Operations and Finance was responsible for campus planning and development; conference services/Donald Gordan Centre; financial services; human resources; internal audit; pensions, investments and insurance; physical plant services; purchasing; and security and parking. John Scott Cowan was appointed as the first Vice-Principal Operations and Finance. This position remained until a restructuring in 2010.