New TRU president introduced from afar

Other than the fact he badly needs a haircut, the new president of Thompson Rivers University seems like a good pick. Dr. Alan Shaver will join us in December, after he clears away some business at Dalhousie, where he’s currently employed. The announcement of his appointment was made a couple of hours ago before a sizable audience in the TRU Grand Hall.

Shaver, unfortunately, wasn’t present, at least not in person. He tapped in via a video-audio link and there, on the big screen, was his prominently untended do. I’m not talking shoulder length hippiedom or anything like that. Rather, it’s that older guy’s haven’t gotten to the barber recently, getting way too thick at the back look. In his official photo on the TRU website, his cut looks a lot more up to date.

Not that neglecting a haircut is the worst thing around. If that’s the biggest criticism we can come up with, I figure the TRU board of governors will be pretty pleased. (It did remind me, however, that I was overdue myself, so I headed straight down to the Manhandler for a trim right after the announcement.) Here’s the resume for the new prez borrowed from the TRU release, for your edification:

Dr. Alan Shaver background

Dalhousie University (2006 – present)
• Vice-President Academic Provost (2006-Present)

McGill University (1975-2006)
• Dean, Faculty of Science (1995-2005)
• Chair, Department of Chemistry (1991-1995)
• Professor (1989-2006)
• Associate Professor (1979-1988)
• Assistant Professor (1975-1979)

University of Western Ontario(1972-1975)
• Department of Chemistry Teaching Fellow (1974-1975)
• National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow (1972-1974)

Education:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1969-1972)
• Doctor of Philosophy: Organometallic Chemistry

Carleton University (1965-1969)
• B.Sc. (Hons) First Class: Chemistry

Publications:
Dr. Shaver has published over 125 papers on a variety of research topics including the chemistry of soluble metal complexes with small sulfur containing molecules. He has also investigated the insulin mimetic properties of peroxovanadium compounds.