Ryerson President Mohamed Lachemi appointed to second term
Ryerson’s Board of Governors has renewed Mohamed Lachemi as president of Ryerson to 2026.
On Thursday, June 27, 2019, the Ryerson University Board of Governors unanimously appointed Mohamed Lachemi to a second term as President and Vice-Chancellor of Ryerson University. He will lead the university until April 2, 2026.
“I am delighted to announce that President Lachemi has been renewed for a second term and will be leading Ryerson University to even greater heights,” said Mitch Frazer, chair, Ryerson Board of Governors. “During his first term, President Lachemi has led Ryerson to numerous remarkable achievements demonstrating his unwavering commitment to students, faculty, and staff, to research, and to extending Ryerson’s global reach.”
As president, Lachemi has overseen Ryerson being selected to lead a momentous Canada-wide initiative in The Future Skills Centre, and awarded its first Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration. He also launched the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst – a national centre for cybersecurity, and opened the first new student residence at Ryerson in more than 30 years.
Under his leadership, 115 new tenure-stream faculty were hired with an additional 103 tenure-stream faculty to start July 1, 2019 or later, the DMZ at Ryerson was ranked the top university-based incubator in the world, Ryerson won its first ever U Sports national championship, and the university was chosen as one of the GTA’s Top Employers and Canada's Best Diversity Employer three years in a row.
“It has been an honour serving the Ryerson community as president and to have the opportunity to work with such outstanding students, faculty and staff,” said Lachemi. “While we have worked together to achieve great things in my first term, I am focused on the future, ensuring we maintain our momentum as a city builder and as an institution known for fostering innovation, growth, and positive change.”
At the start of his first term as president, Lachemi announced the creation of the PACE fund to improve access to post-secondary education at Ryerson. In its first three years, the fund has raised $4 million – nearly half of its total goal – creating 46 new awards to fund new pathways for students and to ensure access to post-secondary education for those in greatest need. He also appointed the Canadian university sector’s first-ever vice-president of equity and community inclusion. Under Lachemi’s leadership, Ryerson took meaningful steps on the journey towards reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
As he approaches his second term, President Lachemi looks forward to opening the Ryerson Law School – the first new law school in Toronto since 1949, continuing to improve access to education, and setting in motion a vision for Ryerson 2030 including a new Master Plan and a bold fundraising program.
“Ryerson will continue evolving to best advance our mission as a university: addressing societal needs, increasing research excellence, intensity and impact, and preparing our students for success in a rapidly changing work environment,” said Lachemi. “By working together, I know that Ryerson University can achieve great things locally, nationally, and around the world.”
Installed as Ryerson’s ninth president in April 2016, President Lachemi first joined the Ryerson community as a professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science in 1998. He went on to hold progressively senior roles within the university including dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science. Before his appointment as president, he was provost and vice-president, academic.
An award-winning teacher, mentor and researcher, President Lachemi is well-known for his pioneering research in high-performance materials and advanced technologies to mitigate the effects of built structures on the environment; he held a Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Construction from 2002-10. In 2018, he was awarded the Wason Medal for Materials Research by the American Concrete Institute and was appointed a Member Council, National Research Council of Canada.