Dear members of the McGill community,
I am excited to write to you today as I begin my mandate as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. The opportunity to join McGill, a university that I have long admired, is a great honour and privilege. My heartfelt thanks to all who have shared their warm wishes and words of welcome since my appointment was announced.
My wife Rani and I are also delighted to return to Montréal – the city in which I began my independent academic career as a plant biologist, where we raised our daughters, and where we shared many wonderful memories over nearly two decades. Returning to Montréal and Québec feels like coming home.
Over the years, I have been fortunate to enjoy a career in higher education that has taken me across continents. In these diverse contexts, I have seen how broadly McGill’s legacy of excellence resonates. Built over two centuries and counting, it is a reputation that is owed particularly to the incredible people – the students, professors, staff, alumni, and volunteers – who comprise this community.
This is a community that is renowned for questioning established paradigms, for seeking out difficult challenges, and for constantly pushing the frontiers of creativity and innovation. Importantly, this is a community that pursues the advancement of knowledge and solutions, through both teaching and research, with a sharp focus on bettering the societies it serves.
As I prepared over the last few months to assume my new responsibilities, I have enjoyed learning more about the University’s numerous contributions over time. In doing so, one question that I have been mulling over is: How do we expand on this stellar record of accomplishment to create a third century that surpasses the last two?
Fortunately, there are many strengths upon which we can already build. These include, for example, McGill’s location and role in the Montréal and Québec communities, our extensive international presence and partnerships, our relentless pursuit of excellence that goes hand in hand with a steadfast commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and our exceptional ability combined with an unshakable motivation to address the complex challenges facing our world.
Our ability to deliver effectively on the promise we hold for this complex world will depend on our ability to work together as a cohesive McGill that is purposefully aligned with our mission. Over the next few months, I will have the opportunity to meet with many of you. I am eager to learn from you and to hear your thoughts on how, together, we will make McGill’s third century our most impactful yet.
Sincerely,
Deep Saini
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
McGill University