UBC Vancouver, Selection of a Senior Advisor to the Provost on Women Faculty
The following Broadcast Message is being sent to all faculty members at UBC’s Vancouver campus, from David Farrar, Provost and Vice President Academic.
I am pleased to announce that President Toope has accepted the recommendation of the Advisory Committee that Professor Rachel Kuske be appointed Senior Advisor to the Provost on Women Faculty for a three-year renewable term starting October 1, 2011.
Dr. Kuske is Professor and Head of the Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science. She holds a Canada Research Chair in Applied Mathematics. She was awarded her PhD in Engineering Sciences/Applied Mathematics from Northwestern University. Her research interests are in the area of stochastic and nonlinear dynamics, mathematical modeling, asymptotics and semianalytic approximations, and mathematics in industry (see CV http://www.math.ubc.ca/~rachel/cv/kuskecv11.pdf. She has received several awards for her scholarship, most recently the Canadian Mathematical Society’s Krieger-Nelson Prize that recognizes outstanding research by a female mathematician.
Dr. Kuske has been involved extensively in curriculum development, and she has been an invited speaker at many international conferences. She sits on the editorial boards of several Mathematics journals.
At UBC, she has served on a number of Advisory Committees including the Centre for Research in Women’s Studies and Gender Relations (now the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies); the Status of Women in the Faculty of Science; the New Faculty Teaching Development Initiative; and the Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth (now the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology). Her diversity activities include founding and co-chairing the Association for Women in Math Mentor Network; Co-chairing workshops on Women in Math and Diversity in Math and Science, and Co-organizing Connecting Women in Math across Canada both at the Banff International Research Station.
Dr. Kuske will lead institutional transformation to enhance the environment for women faculty at UBC. In collaboration with departments, Faculties, institutes and centres across UBC as well as peer institutions internationally, she will move forward the initiatives outlined for the position – policy development, promoting advancement and leadership, ongoing research and assessment, and transformation of the environment. Rebuilding practices and structures for review, rewards, recognition, advancement, and involvement will be a major contribution to UBC’s visibility and recruitment objectives, establishing UBC as a leader in these initiatives.
The Advisory Committee interviewed a number of excellent candidates and the process was enriched by their participation. I am grateful to members of the Advisory Committee for their commitment of time and energy throughout the search – they contributed tremendously as individuals and collectively constituted a most effective search committee.
I look forward to working with Dr. Kuske as she brings her extensive and rich experience to this new role.
