Daryl Haggard appointed Associate Dean, Research
The Faculty of Science is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Daryl Haggard as Associate Dean, Research.
She began her five-year term on September 1, succeeding Computer Science Professor Kaleem Siddiqi in this role.
“I'm thrilled to see Professor Haggard step into the role of Associate Dean, Research,” said Alanna Watt, Dean of the Faculty of Science. "Her outstanding leadership in her field and dedication to research excellence will be invaluable as she guides the Faculty of Science's research vision in the years to come."
A Professor in the Department of Physics and a member of the Trottier Space Institute, Haggard first joined McGill in 2015. She and her research group, the McGill Extreme Gravity & Accretion Group (MEGA), explore the densest known objects in the universe: black holes and neutron stars.
Following the first detection of a neutron star merger in 2017, Haggard’s team led observations with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory that helped identify and characterize the first electromagnetic counterpart to a gravitational-wave source, an achievement recognized by Québec Science as one of the Top 10 Discoveries of 2018. Haggard’s group also studies growing supermassive black holes like Sagittarius A*, which is located at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. She holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Multi-messenger Astrophysics.
In 2024, Haggard received the prestigious two-year Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), which recognizes exceptional early-career researchers in Canada. Her impact in her field reaches far beyond Canada through her contributions to international astrophysics collaborations like the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, the LISA Consortium, and the Rubin Observatory Collaboration.
As the new Associate Dean, Research, Haggard will work closely with the Research and Grants Office (RGO) to guide the Faculty of Science's long-term research vision and advocate for the faculty's research within the university and beyond.
“I am excited to join the team working to advance and support research in McGill’s Faculty of Science,” Haggard said. “It’s already a privilege to be a part of a fantastic university community, and I can’t wait to learn more about the work underway and brainstorm new ways to make it even better. Our faculty and students express eagerness every day to pursue high-impact innovative research, and I’ll support that effort in every way I can.”