David Howard Turpin, CM, PhD, FRSC, is the president-elect of the University of Alberta. He will begin serving as the 13th president and vice-chancellor of the university on July 1, 2015.

Dr. Turpin is currently professor of biology and president emeritus at the University of Victoria, where he served as president from 2000–2013. Under his leadership, the University of Victoria put into action an ambitious vision and strategic plan to become a destination of choice for students, faculty, and staff from British Columbia, Canada, and the world by inspiring a culture of excellence in teaching and research. During his presidency, student enrolment increased, and by 2013, UVic attracted the highest percentage of out-of-province students of any university west of Montreal. Nine new residences were built to accommodate this growth and to guarantee every first-year student a place in residence. Student financial assistance more than doubled.

Special focus on attracting and supporting indigenous students led to the introduction of LE,NONET, a set of programs designed to meet their specific cultural and academic needs, and the construction of the First People House on campus. As a result of these key strategies, indigenous student enrolment increased tenfold to 900 students by the end of Dr. Turpin’s presidency.

In the same period, UVic also increased its research capacity, quadrupling the amount of annual sponsored research funding. UVic led the establishment of a number of major national and international research projects and partnerships under Turpin’s leadership, including Oceans Networks Canada, which operates the NEPTUNE and VENUS ocean observatories; the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, founded on the largest single contribution to a university endowment in Canadian history ($90 million); and the Digital Humanities Summer Institute. UVic also led the development of the Canadian ATLAS detector project at CERN, the ARIEL beam line at TRIUMF, and the development of the Vancouver Island Technology Park, the largest university-owned tech park in British Columbia.

Prior to becoming president of UVic, Dr. Turpin served as vice-president (academic) from 1995–2000 at Queen’s University, where he began his academic career in 1981. A distinguished scholar and Thomson ISI highly cited researcher in plant biochemistry and physiology, Dr. Turpin has earned many honours and distinctions for his research, teaching, and service to the community. These include the NSERC Steacie Fellowship, Queen’s University’s highest award for excellence in teaching; election to the Royal Society of Canada and membership in the Order of Canada; and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond and Golden Jubilee Medals. In addition, he has assumed major administrative roles of increasing seniority, including head of the Department of Botany at UBC (1991–1993) and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science at Queen’s (1993–1995) before becoming Queen’s VP (academic) in 1995.

David Turpin is admired and respected throughout the post-secondary sector across Canada. He has chaired the Research Universities’ Council of British Columbia and the University Public Sector Employers’ Association. Nationally, he served on the board of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada and chaired their Standing Committee on International Relations. He has also chaired the Canadian Research Knowledge Network and played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Major Sciences Initiatives Fund at the Canada Foundation for Innovation. Dr. Turpin continues to serve in leadership roles and is currently vice-chair of the board of the World University Service of Canada.