Our Next Leader

Dr. David Naylor, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and president-designate of the University of Toronto, has called on the provincial and federal governments to invest in higher education to give students at Ontario universities “the experience they deserve.” Naylor, who in April was appointed the 15th president of U of T, says his top priorities will be to improve the student experience at the university and to urge governments to close “the resource gap” that is holding back post-secondary institutions in Ontario. “If that happens, there’s no limit to what we can do here,” Naylor says.

Known as a skilled administrator with a warm demeanour, Naylor has been dean of the Faculty of Medicine and vice-provost (relations with health-care institutions) since 1999 and a U of T faculty member since 1988. He holds an MD from U of T and a PhD from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he is the co-author of approximately 300 scholarly articles, spanning such subjects as social history, public policy, epidemiology and clinical services. He has been appointed president for a five-year term.

“Dean Naylor brings an extraordinary breadth of talent to our university,” says Rose Patten, chair of Governing Council and chair of the presidential search committee. “We are very fortunate to have him right here in our midst to lead our university at this important time.”