Prince George, BC – Daniel Weeks, who has forged a successful career in Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta as a professor and university administrator, has been named the University of Northern British Columbia's new president.

Dr. Weeks has been the Vice-President, Research at the University of Lethbridge for the past five years, where he led several initiatives to restructure and enhance the research portfolio. Prior to that, he served in numerous academic roles over 16 years at Simon Fraser University, including Chair of the Department of Psychology, Founding Member of the Institute for Health Research and Education, and the Graduate Program Chair of the School of Kinesiology. Dr. Weeks has also held visiting academic positions at McMaster University, and Purdue and Auburn Universities in the United States.

UNBC President Daniel Weeks

"I grew up in Northern Ontario in a place very similar to Prince George, and my wife, Fay, and I are eager to begin this next chapter in our lives," says Dr. Weeks. "I have spent a good portion of my career in British Columbia, and both understand and respect UNBC's mission and the pledge it has made to the people of the region it serves. Those who make up UNBC's community - our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and more - all play a pivotal role in defining UNBC's future successes. I am excited to meet all of them and begin work in an environment that fosters creativity, scholarship, teamwork, innovation, and leadership. The same excitement extends to the many people outside of the university - donors, government officials, other educational providers, and more - who all play critical roles in fostering and enabling UNBC's success."

Dr. Weeks holds a PhD in Experimental Psychology from Auburn University, with his research covering a broad range of topics in the areas of health and behavioural sciences, including human perception and performance, developmental disabilities such as Down Syndrome, and cognitive neuroscience. He has more than 100 journal publications, book chapters, and books to his credit. Dr. Weeks is the recipient of the Distinguished Research Service Award from the Canadian Down Syndrome Research Foundation and US National Down Syndrome Society, and is a Fellow of Sigma X, as well as an International Fellow of the National Academy of Kinesiology.

UNBC's Board of Governors appointed a search committee last fall to replace George Iwama, who departed UNBC at the end of 2013. The search committee was made up of 20 representatives from the university community and chaired by John Turner, the Chair of the UNBC Board of Governors.

"After welcoming input from the entire university community and reviewing almost 40 potential candidates, it was Dr. Weeks who emerged as the candidate with the greatest combination of academic performance, skills, and experiences that the committee felt was best suited to providing leadership for UNBC," says Mr. Turner. "Dr. Weeks is an accomplished academic and an inspired leader, and he is passionate about the North. The Board and the UNBC community look forward to working with him as UNBC celebrates our 25th anniversary and pivots into our next quarter century. On behalf of the Board, I thank the members of the search committee for their commitment to the future of our University."

Born and raised in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Dr. Weeks is also an accomplished musician and an avid sailor. He will transition to his presidency through the summer and join UNBC at the start of the academic year in early September.

Past UNBC presidents:

Geoffrey R. Weller (1990-1995)
K. George Pedersen (interim, 1995)
Charles J. Jago (1995-2006, and interim in 2008-09)
Donald Cozzetto (2006-2008)
George Iwama (2009-2013)
Mark Dale (interim, 2014)

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