Administrative History
Between 1913 and 1947 administration of the University was primarily conducted by the President, who delegated responsibility among the various Deans. As the University grew in size and complexity, the Board of Governors passed a motion in 1947 to identify a position called "Assistant to the President." While the Board did not clearly state the specific duties and responsibilities, the position did receive signing authority in 1954. At that point, the title was changed to "Dean and Deputy to the President," This position was occupied by Geoffrey C. Andrew (1947-1962). In 1963 on the recommendation of the Woods, Gordon Report (1963), the President and the Board of Governors passed a motion stating that a single person should be recognized as Vice-President to "assist the President in all areas" (BOG minutes, 241, 1963), a position held by William C. Gibson (1963-1969). As a result, either the "Dean and Deputy to the President" position was modified, or an additional VP position was created – Neil G. Perry held the position of VP from 1963 to 1966.
While the University had had positions analogous to Vice President – the position of Bursar and Treasurer, as well as Dean of Inter-Faculty Affairs, for example – the President argued that a position was necessary that was senior to the deans. The Board of Governors agreed, and in 1967 the Board sought to transform the positions held by the Bursar and the Dean of Inter-Faculty affairs into "Deputy President" positions. Accordingly, the Board passed a motion to create three Deputy President posts. However, in 1969 only two positions were created, Deputy President (held by William Armstrong until 1974) and Deputy President and Bursar (held by William White until 1984, during his tenure, the position became "VP and Bursar").
Changes in the British Columbia Universities Act in 1975 resulted in the two Deputy Presidents being replaced by four positions. The offices were set out as follows: Vice President of University Development (held by Michael Shaw until 1983), responsible for animal care, botanical gardens, computing centre, extra-sessional studies, institutional analysis and research; Vice President of Faculty and Student Affairs (held by Erich Vogt until 1981), responsible for athletics, university bookstore, ceremonies, foods services registrar's office, student housing, student awards, and student services; the title of Deputy President and Bursar was changed to Vice President and Bursar without altering the functions of the office (continued to be held by William White until 1984); and Vice President of Administrative Services (held by Charles Connaghan until 1980), responsible for employee relations, physical plant, purchasing, traffic and universities resource council.
In 1980, Vice President of Administrative Services Connaghan resigned. In 1981 the position was changed to VP of University Services, with James Kennedy at the helm until 1984. In 1984 the responsibilities of the office were combined with that of the new Vice-President position of Finance. As a result, the position has been known as Finance, Finance and Administration, Financial Services, Resources and Operations, and is currently Finance & Operations. At various times, the position has had ultimate responsibility for such services as supply management, campus security, the UBC Bookstore, the Development Office, food services, land and building services, human resources, budgeting, treasury, and other business and financial operations. During the search for the first VP, Allen Baxter served as acting VP for a few months in 1984. The first VP was A.B. Gellatly, who served from 1984 until 1995. He was replaced by Terry Sumner in 1995, who left in 2008. Pierre Ouillet became the new VP in 2009. Andrew Simpson replaced Ouillet in 2014. Peter Smailes replaced Simpson in 2018.
The resignation of the Vice President of Faculty and Student Affairs (Vogt) in 1981 resulted in the functions of this office being transferred to the Vice President of University Development (Shaw), whose title was then changed to Vice President Academic and Provost. This office included the associate positions of both Academic and Research, which, by 1986, would become bona fide Vice President positions. In 1983, Shaw left the position and was replaced by Robert H. T. Smith. In 1985, Smith was replaced by Daniel Birch. Birch was replaced by Barry McBride in 1997. Lorne Whitehead replaced McBride in 2004. Whitehead left in 2006 and was replaced by David Farrar in 2007, with George Mackie acting VP from 2006 to 2007. Farrar left in 2015 and was replaced by Andrew Szeri in 2017, with Angela Redish as acting VP from 2015 to 2017.
From 1984 to 1985, a Vice Presidency was created that did not last long. It was called Vice-President of Development and Community Relations. David McMillan held it.
In 1986, the Vice Presidency of Student and Academic Services was created. The position is now known as Vice-President Students. The first president was K. D. Srivastava until 1994. Maria Klawe replaced him in 1995. Mary Risebrough replacedher in 1997. Risebrough was replaced by Brian Sullivan in 1999. After Sullivan left in 2011, Louise Nasmith was acting VP until Louise Cowin was selected to fill the position the same year. Cowin left in 2018, and Andrew Parr worked as VP until Ainsley Carry was chosen to fill the position in 2019.
In 1986, the Vice President of Research was created. This position has been known as Research and International and (as of 2017) Research and Innovation. The first VP was Peter Larkin. Robert replaced him. C. Miller, Jr. in 1990. In 1995, Miller was replaced by Bernard Bressler, who left in 1999). David H. Dolphin was acting VP from 1999 to 2000 and again in 2005 when Indira Samaresekera, who attained the position in 2000, left. After that, John Hepburn took the helm from 2005 to 2016. After that, Helen Burt was acting VP until Gail Murphy became VP in 2017.
In 1992 the Board of Governors recommended that the office of the Vice Presidency expand from four positions to five. The recommendation was passed, and the Vice President of External Affairs was added. The functions of this office include university relations and development. Since then, it has been known as VP External and Legal Affairs; VP External, Legal and Community Engagement; VP, Communications and Community Partnership; and is currently VP, External Relations. Peter W. Ufford held this position until 1998); Charles Slonecker was acting VP until Dennis Pavlich was hired in 2001. Pavlich left in 2007, and Stephen Owen took over until 2011. Pascal Spothelfer held the position until 2014. Philip Steenkamp then held the position from 2015 to 2018. The search for the new head of this position is still ongoing (Feb. 2019). In the meantime, Michael White and Adriaan de Jager are co-acting VPs.
In 2008 the development (fundraising) and alumni engagement functions were aligned under the new VP position of Development and Alumni Engagement. Barbara Miles was the first holder of the office and remained so until 2018); Jeff Todd acted as VP for a few months until Heather McCaw took over as VP in 2018.
In 2012, the responsibility of human resources was removed from the VP of Finance and was subsequently placed under the responsibility of a new position known as Vice President Human Resources. This position was initially by Lisa Castle until 2017. Linda McKnight was acting VP for a few months until Barbara Meens Thistle became the new VP in 2017.