The following is a message to the community from York President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton and York Provost and Vice-President Academic Lisa Philipps:
We are pleased to inform members of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS) and the York community that Professor John Justin (J.J.) McMurtry has agreed to serve as interim dean of LA&PS, effective Oct. 1, as Dean Ananya Mukherjee-Reed leaves York to take up a position at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus.
On July 23, the Board of Governors Executive Committee, on behalf of the Board of Governors, concurred with the recommendation of this appointment.
Professor McMurtry has been a member of the York University community since 1997. He is an associate professor in the Department of Social Science and a member of the Faculty’s Business and Society (BUSO) program. He has a long record of service to the University, from serving on the executive committees of both CUPE 3903 and YUFA to taking on roles as department chair of Social Science from 2014-15, graduate program director of Social and Political Thought from 2012-15 and coordinator of BUSO from 2007-10. Since 2016, he has served as the Faculty’s associate dean programs. As associate dean, he has been responsible for curriculum and programs, student recruitment and enrolment management, and has been the Faculty lead on the Markham Campus.
Professor McMurtry holds MA and PhD degrees in social and political thought from York University. His research and teaching interests focus on the theory and practice of alternative social, political and economic forms. His publications include 23 solo and co-authored articles and book chapters, and he is editor of the books Living Economics: Canadian Perspectives on the Social Economy, Co-operatives and Community Economic Development and Co-operatives in a Global Economy. In addition, he was English language editor of the Canadian Journal of Non-Profit and Social Economy Research from 2015-18 and has been involved in multiple SSHRC grants, including as principal investigator on People, Power, Planet: Best Practices and Knowledge Mobilization in Community Energy Development.
We very much appreciate Professor McMurtry’s willingness to undertake this important leadership responsibility at a key point for the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, and we look forward to working with him in the coming year.