Steven N. Liss

Steven N. Liss is Toronto Metropolitan University’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and a professor of Chemistry and Biology in the Faculty of Science. His recent return to TMU inl 2017, follows a decade of distinguished service at the University of Guelph and at Queen’s University, where he served as Vice-Principal (Research) and a professor of Environmental Studies and Chemical Engineering.

For his contributions to Canada’s research and innovation ecosystem, Steven was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He has also held positions on a number of boards and councils: he was the Chair of the Ontario Council on University Research (OCUR) for 2015-16, and Chair of the Board of Management of TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, for 2014-2016. He has played an important leadership role nationally in the advancement of support for digital infrastructure as the founding co-chair of the Leadership Council on Digital Infrastructure (LCDI) and a founding board member and Corporate Officer of Compute Ontario. He currently sits on the board of Compute Canada, and previously served as the inaugural Chair of the Review Panel for the Ministry of Research and Innovation, Ontario Research Fund: Research Excellence program (Environment and Emerging Technologies Panel).

Steven is an internationally recognized researcher in the areas of environmental biotechnology and engineering, as well as wastewater and water management. He is also well known for his work in applied microbiology, which focuses on bioflocculation, microbial structures, and the fate of contaminants in engineered and natural environmental systems.