Photo above: Dr. Ashok Mathur has been reappointed as Interim VP, Research & Innovation until June 30, 2022.
Dear members of the OCAD University community,
As we gear up for an exciting fall, I want to welcome new faculty members who are joining OCAD U and highlight recent senior academic reappointments and appointments.
First, I’d like to congratulate Dr. Ashok Mathur on his reappointment as Interim Vice-President, Research & Innovation and Dean, Graduate Studies until June 30, 2022, approved by the Board.
DR. ASHOK MATHUR – INTERIM VP, RESEARCH & INNOVATION
As Interim Vice-President, Research & Innovation, Ashok will report directly to me and lead the office’s operations and provide leadership to the Inclusive Design Research Centre. Additionally, he will assist with implementing strategic directions and priorities for research services to advance the University’s research agenda.
Ashok’s previous leadership and research-oriented roles include serving as Head of Creative Studies at the Okanagan Campus of the University of British Columbia, Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Cultural and Artistic Inquiry, and Director of the Center for Innovation in Culture and the Arts in Canada (CiCAC) at Thompson Rivers University. From 2001 to 2005, he was Head of Critical and Cultural Studies at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
Since January 1, 2018, Ashok has been providing educational and research leadership as the Dean of Graduate Studies. In this role, he develops and supervises Graduate Studies, ensuring alignment with the Academic Plan and the University’s strategic plan. In this capacity, he continues to report to Caroline Langill, Vice-President, Academic, and Provost.
We will be conducting a search for the permanent role later this fall. This process will involve Senate and related policy/planning committees when they reconvene this September.
SENIOR ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
Jana Macalik assumed the role of Acting Associate Dean, Academic Affairs, in the Faculty of Art on August 1 for a six-month term. A faculty member in the Environmental Design program, Jana was Associate Dean, Research, Outreach and Strategic Projects in the Faculty of Design from 2014 to 2019, and Associate Dean, Academic Affairs in the Faculty of Design from 2018-2020.
With more than 20 years of experience as an academic, Jana’s teaching explores how art and design in their most authentic forms are created to fracture barriers and initiate dialogue with individuals, internally and socially. Since 1994, she has been involved in cultural exhibition design and branding applications in communications and architecture. She has more than 25 years of experience working as a designer for cultural institutions in Toronto and for multi-disciplinary firms, including Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership in New York, Perennial Inc. in Toronto and AldrichPears Associates in Vancouver.
We’ll begin the search for Associate Dean, Academic Affairs this fall and it will be open to external and internal applicants.
Dr. Kathy Moscou has been appointed Interim Associate Dean, Academic Affairs in the Faculty of Design, approved by Senate. Prior to joining to OCAD U last August as part of the Black Cluster Hire, Kathy was a manager in the International Pharmacy Graduate program at the University of Toronto and was Director of the Pharmacy Technician program at North Seattle Community College in Washington State.
In addition to being a seasoned administrator, Kathy has extensive experience in managing student complaints, responding to curriculum needs, program budgeting and strategic planning. She is a member of the DHEA Program Committee and IAMD Program Committee, where her previous program development and curriculum mapping experiences have allowed her to make significant contributions.
Ilene Sova has been reappointed as the Ada Slaight Chair of Contemporary Drawing and Painting in the Faculty of Art. Her reappointment, approved by Senate, began on July 1, 2021 and ends June 30, 2024.
Ilene is the founder of Feminist Art Collective and Blank Canvases, an in-school creative studio arts program for elementary school students. She holds an Honours BFA from the University of Ottawa in Painting and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of Windsor.
With extensive solo and group exhibitions in Canada and abroad, her work has been shown at the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art, the Department of Canadian Heritage, Mutuo Centro de Arte in Barcelona, Duluth Art Institute (Minnesota), and Gibson's Public Art Gallery (Vancouver). Her artwork has been featured internationally in the Journal of Psychology and Counselling, the Nigerian Arts Journal Tabula, and the Italian feminist journal Woman’O’Clock.
NEW NON-SESSIONAL FACULTY MEMBERS
I’d like to welcome several non-sessional faculty members who have joined, or will join OCAD U. You may have seen our recent news story about our Indigenous Cluster Hire, and I’d like to extend a warm welcome to these five new members to the Faculty of Design:
- Dr. Herman Pi’ikea Clark, Kanaka Maoli/Indigenous Hawaiian, tenured Professor (he starts in January);
- Matthew Hickey, Mohawk from the Six Nations First Nations, tenure-track Assistant Professor;
- Jason Lujan, Chiricahua Apache, tenure-track Assistant Professor;
- Sadie Red Wing, Lakota from the Spirit Lake Nation of Fort Totten, North Dakota, tenure-track Assistant Professor; and
- Julia Rose Sutherland, Mi’kmaq from the Metepenagiag Nation, tenure-track Assistant Professor (she starts in January).
I’d like to also extend a warm welcome to these new faculty members who joined OCAD U on August 1:
Faculty of Art
- Rebecca Bair, Contractually Limited Term Appointment (CLTA) Lecturer through the AICAD Post-graduate Teaching Fellowship program.
- Tairone Bastien, tenure-track Assistant Professor
- Veronika Szkudlarek, tenure-track Assistant Professor Faculty of Arts and Science
- Andrew Gayed, tenure-track Assistant Professor
- Angus Mok, Teaching Intensive Stream Lecturer
- Lina Nasr El Hag Ali, Contractually Limited Term Appointment (CLTA) Lecturer
Please join me in congratulating everyone on their respective appointments!
Ana Serrano
President and Vice-Chancellor
OCAD University