Meaghan Whelan

Dr. Richard Marceau will be the next vice-president (research) at Memorial University of Newfoundland. The appointment was announced today by Dr. Gary Kachanoski, Memorial’s president. Dr. Marceau will succeed Dr. Christopher Loomis. The appointment was approved by Memorial’s Board of Regents and is effective June 1, 2013.

Dr. Marceau comes to Memorial from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), where he currently serves as provost and vice-president (academic). In that role he directed UOIT’s explosive growth since 2005 from 1,800 to 9,200 students, from 60 to 170 faculty members, a doubling of undergraduate and graduate programs and a significant increase in research and design chairs (from one to 14).

An engineer by profession and a graduate of McGill University (B.Eng., PhD) and École Polytechnique (M.Sc.A.), Dr. Marceau has worked in the university milieu since 1993. He served as a professor and department chair at École Polytechnique and then dean of engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke. Before embarking upon an academic career, he spent 12 years in industry as a practising engineer, researcher and research and development planner with MONECO Inc. and Hydro Quebec.

Dr. Marceau’s academic and research expertise is in the area of electric power engineering. His research, both as principal investigator and co-investigator, has been supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), among other granting agencies. He has published 21 peer-reviewed journal articles, 37 conference articles and 10 invited articles and presentations. He has written three books and holds five patents.

A native of North Bay, Ont., Dr. Marceau is currently president and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a member of the board of the NSERC Smart Microgrid Network, among other professional activities. He is active in the community, serving as president of the Parkwood Foundation and National Historic Site, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Durham Economic Prosperity Committee. Also an active supporter of the arts, Dr. Marceau served as a member of the board of the Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra, now the Ontario Philharmonic.

“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Marceau to the Memorial University community,” said Dr. Kachanoski. “He was the unanimous choice of the search committee. In addition to his distinguished accomplishments as an engineer, academic, researcher and administrator, he also brings a broad understanding of the importance of arts and humanities to the institution.”

Dr. Marceau said he was looking forward to coming to Memorial and moving to Newfoundland and Labrador.

“This is an exciting opportunity,” he said. “Newfoundland and Labrador is emerging as an important player in the national economy and Memorial University is recognized across the country as an integral part of that development. Memorial’s research is highly diverse and its strengths range from the purely technical, to oceans and marine, to culture, arts and humanities. The multi-campus nature of the institution, with St. John’s, Grenfell Campus, the Marine Institute and Harlow, is a particular strength. So, I see countless opportunities to advance the research program across all of our disciplines and campuses and I’m really looking forward to working with Memorial’s researchers and the community.”

Dr. Kachanoski also acknowledged the considerable contributions Dr. Loomis has made to Memorial.

“Dr. Loomis has led research at the university for a number of years, spearheading the growth of our research program to the current level of close to $110 million a year,” he said. “Between that and the invaluable institutional leadership he provided when he served pro tempore as vice-president (academic) and president, earlier as dean of pharmacy, as a teacher and researcher of considerable note, Dr. Loomis has given his all to Memorial. On behalf of the entire community I extend sincere thanks to him.”

Dr. Marceau’s complete CV can be viewed at www.mun.ca/president/marceaucv.pdf.