Tighe’s five-year term will begin on July 1, 2025. Pictured: Dr. Susan Tighe. Photo Credit: Susan Tighe/X.
Dr. Susan Tighe, who currently serves as McMaster University’s Provost and Vice-President Academic has been announced as the institution’s ninth President and Vice-Chancellor.
Her appointment was unanimously approved by the Committee for Recommending a President and then approved by both the university Senate and Board of Governors.
Tighe’s five-year term will begin on July 1, 2025. She will be replacing current President David Farrar, who has served since 2019.
Board of Governors Chair Jane Allen says that Tighe “was the most outstanding candidate and brings to her new role the leadership experience, commitment to academic, research and student excellence, financial acuity, and vision to help lead McMaster to an even brighter future.”
“Dr. Tighe played a pivotal role in guiding the university through the pandemic and return to work and has been a leader in McMaster’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, equity and inclusion. She has successfully overseen the financial affairs of the university, keeping McMaster as one of the few universities in the province that is not in a deficit position,” Allen continued.
Before joining McMaster as Provost and Vice-President Academic, Tighe served as the Deputy Provost and Associate Vice-President of Integrated Planning and Budgeting at the University of Waterloo.
A press release from McMaster University states that Tighe is an “internationally respected and award-winning engineer and researcher specializing in the development, design and management of sustainable concrete and asphalt for airports, roads and other critical infrastructure.”
Tighe, 53, attended Catholic elementary and secondary schools in Brampton before graduating from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1993.
She then worked for Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation before returning to school and earning a Master of Science in Engineering and PhD from the University of Waterloo.
She later became a Canada Research Chair in Pavement and Infrastructure Management, served as President of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, and was named a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.
She has received numerous awards, including the Sanford Fleming Award from the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering and the Research and Development Medal from Professional Engineers Ontario.
She has also reportedly delivered more than 140 keynote addresses and invited presentations, authored over 150 refereed journal articles, delivered over 340 refereed conference proceedings, and written eight books and manuals.
McMaster University’s Committee for Recommending a President began working on January 25, 2024 to search for a replacement for Farrar, who announced at the beginning of the year that he would be leaving at the end of his term.
Executive recruitment firm Boyden Canada was retained through a formal request for proposal process to help the Committee search for suitable candidates.
The Committee conducted community consultation from February 26 to March 18, 2024, including through one-on-one, small group and large group conversations.
A web-based survey was also conducted.
The university reveals that there were 32 applications from across the country and worldwide, with five applicants chosen for first-round interviews.
The Committee says that defined criteria outlined during the consultation phase, as well as an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion questionnaire, informed their decision on who to invite to an interview.
From there, two candidates were reportedly invited for a second round of interviews after which the Committee chose Tighe as their official recommendation.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
