Dr. Geoff Payne is the President and Vice Chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia.

A founding faculty member at the Northern Medical Program, Dr. Payne came to UNBC in June 2004 to teach physiology following a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and John B. Pierce Laboratory. 

Dr. Payne is also currently a Professor with Division of Medical Sciences in the field of vascular physiology. During his time at UNBC, Dr. Payne has served in a number of leadership roles including the inaugural Assistant Dean for Education and Research between 2009-2015 and the founding Director of the UNBC Health Research Institute.

In September 2015, Dr. Payne began his tenure as Interim Vice-President, Research at UNBC. He became Vice-President, Research in March 2018.

In February 2020, the UNBC Board of Governors asked Dr. Payne to take on the role of Interim President, and announced in October 2020 that he will stay in that role until August. 31, 2022. 

Dr. Payne holds a PhD from Memorial University of Newfoundland in the field of cardiovascular and renal physiology. He earned his Bachelor of Science in behavioural neuroscience and his Master of Science in neuroscience and pharmacology from Memorial University. 

Dr. Payne maintains an active biomedical research program with interests in vascular physiology and inflammation. Dr. Payne has over 40 publications.

In his spare time, Dr. Payne is an active trail runner and completed a number of ultramarathons and three Ironman triathlons.