Dr. Gillian Balfour appointed Provost and Vice-President, Academic
Dr. Balfour joins Lakehead from Thompson Rivers University and begins her appointment on July 1, 2025.
Lakehead University is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gillian Balfour as Provost and Vice-President, Academic. Her five-year term will commence July 1, 2025.Reporting to the President and Vice-Chancellor, the Provost and Vice-President, Academic is the university’s chief academic officer, responsible for academic planning, ongoing academic operations, and plays a key role in the university’s strategic and academic plans in addition to the development and implementation of the university’s budget.
“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Balfour to the Lakehead community during a critical moment as we embark on a chapter of significant growth,” said Dr. Gillian Siddall, President and Vice-Chancellor. “Gillian brings a wealth of experience having worked in leadership roles at Thompson Rivers, Western, and Trent universities, and is well-versed in leading complex organizations through change and expansion. She offers a fresh perspective through her academic work in sociology and approaches leadership through a lens of progress and inclusivity.”
Dr. Balfour completed a PhD in sociology at the University of Manitoba where she focused on socio-legal studies and feminist criminology. Her research interests include a critical analysis of restorative justice and sentencing law reforms intended to address the over-incarceration of Indigenous women.
Before joining Lakehead University, Dr. Balfour served as Provost and Vice-President Academic at Thompson Rivers University (TRU) since 2022, where she was the chief budget officer and academic leader with a unique government mandate to provide online and on-campus learning for 30,000 learners. She developed TRU’s first integrated strategic plan for resource allocation to address domestic recruitment and student retention, renewed institutional reputation, and inclusive excellence for staff and faculty recruitment. Dr. Balfour also led the development of TRU Bold, an academic plan focused on halo program areas of research excellence, expansion of flexible delivery through open education, and financial sustainability through strategic program innovation.
“Lakehead has always been an exemplar of what can be achieved with regards to exceptional student experience and recognition for research excellence,” said Dr. Balfour. “I am looking forward to working closely with Dr. Gillian Siddall, one of the few women university presidents in Canada, and engaging in the work of developing a forward-thinking academic plan and strategy for financial sustainability in unprecedented times for Canada’s post-secondary sector. I’m also excited to return to Ontario, where I have spent most of my academic career, and experience a new part of the province with extraordinary natural beauty. I would like to express my gratitude for my time at Thompson Rivers University as Provost, and for the colleagues who journeyed with me on an exciting path for the university's future.”
Prior to her time at TRU, Dr. Balfour served as Vice Principal and Academic Dean at King’s University College at Western University from 2020 – 2022 where she developed academic governance processes, a salary equity study, and a dedicated investment strategy for Indigenization and decolonization of curriculum and hiring practices.
Her leadership background includes almost two decades at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, where she was the Associate Dean of Trent Online and Centre for Teaching and Learning. While at Trent, Dr. Balfour was a professor in the Sociology department where she was a member of Canada’s Walls to Bridges collective that provides prison-based learning for incarcerated and non-incarcerated students focused on restorative justice, in addition to launching Trent’s first fully online degree in critical criminology.
“As Lakehead focuses on the future, including launching the Collaborative Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program in Thunder Bay, opening the Barrie STEM Hub, and seeing through plans to expand the Orillia campus, Dr. Balfour’s tremendous experience and hands-on approach to moving major initiatives forward will help us reach our significant goals,” explained Dr. Siddall.
Dr. Siddall added that Lakehead University thanks Dr. David Richards for stepping forward to serve as Interim Provost and Vice-President, Academic, keeping work on track and well in hand during this leadership transition.