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I am very excited to share that after an extensive international search process, Dr. Chris Andersen has been appointed dean and vice-provost of the College of Social Science and Humanities for a five-year term effective October 1, 2025. Chris will be joining CSSH from the Faculty of Native Studies, where he has spent the past 25 years, including almost two terms as dean. With his extensive familiarity with the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥'s people, opportunities and challenges, Chris brings a deep understanding of its culture, values and operation and is well positioned to lead CSSH into its next era.

Chris is a professor in the Faculty of Native Studies and special advisor to the Office of the Vice-Provost (Indigenous Programming and Research). Chris is an award-winning and internationally regarded scholar, who has explored issues relating to Métis nationhood and peoplehood, Indigenous data sovereignty and the sociology of law. He has co-edited landmark collections in Indigenous studies that shape teaching and research across the field. Chris was elected to the inaugural cohort of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, served as Visiting Chair in Métis Studies at the University of Ottawa, and is currently a Fellow in CIFAR’s Boundaries, Membership and Belonging program. He has led or partnered on competitive grants in Canada and the UK, including an Arts and Humanities Research Council award on Métis as a global Indigenous people.

A former Director of the Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research, Chris edited the journal aboriginal policy studies for a decade, served on national advisory bodies with SSHRC and Statistics Canada, and contributed to community boards in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥, an MA and BA (Hons.) from Queen’s University, and has supervised students across disciplines who now work in universities, communities and public service.

Under Chris’s leadership as dean, the Faculty of Native Studies has continued to build its presence as a top Indigenous Studies unit in the world, underpinned by a foundation of cutting-edge scholars, excellent support staff, outstanding students and community engagement. The overwhelming success of the Indigenous Canada MOOC, the most subscribed MOOC in Canada with more than 632,000 participants, is just one example of the extraordinary reach the Faculty of Native Studies has achieved under Chris. I am excited for Chris to lead the College of Social Sciences and Humanities through its continued collaborations and multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary successes.

Faculty of Native Studies' vice-dean, Dr. Adam Gaudry, will serve as interim dean for the Faculty of Native Studies effective October 1, 2025.

I am grateful to Marvin Washington for his leadership as the CSSH dean since July 2023. I am also grateful to Adam Gaudry for stepping into the interim leadership role.

I would like to thank the selection committee members for their commitment to this process. Thank you to everyone who took time to submit feedback or join us for the public forums.

Please join me in congratulating Chris in this exciting new role. I look forward to all he will accomplish alongside the other college deans during his five-year term.