On October 21, 2022, Dr. Geoff Payne was installed as the sixth President and Vice-Chancellor of UNBC.

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 the John B. Pierce Laboratory.

During his time at UNBC, Dr. Payne has served in a number of leadership roles. He was the inaugural Assistant Dean for Education and Research from 2009 to 2015, as well as the founding Director of the Health Research Institute at UNBC.

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. He became the sixth President in April 2022.

Dr. Payne is also currently a Professor with the Division of Medical Sciences at UNBC in the field of vascular physiology.