Tim McTiernan

With a career spanning senior government, university and college leadership roles, Dr. McTiernan has extensive experience in innovation, social and economic development, change management, and governance. He has worked on government policy, government programming and the university-based mechanics of research commercialization and research grant administration. He has led the restructuring and expansion of provincial research and innovation funding programs, and the renewal and expansion of college academic programs and college campus facilities. He has been involved in training, regional economic development and sustainable development strategies, and related projects in Ontario and in Canada’s far north. Common throughout this work has been substantial engagement in stakeholder consultations, in organizational change management, and in complex project and process “start-ups.”

Dr. McTiernan is currently President and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). He was formerly the Assistant Vice President, Government, Institutional and Community Relations, at the University of Toronto. He joined the University of Toronto in June 2006 as Assistant Vice-President, Research and Executive Director of the Innovations Group. Previously, he was Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Operating Officer for the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. He has also served as President of Canadore College of Applied Arts and Technology in North Bay, Ontario, and worked for the Yukon government as Deputy Minister, Cabinet Secretary and Chief Negotiator for Land Claims, Self-Government and Devolution.

Dr. McTiernan has published on policy related to innovation, conservation, sustainable development, and post-secondary education. He is a frequent conference presenter and panellist, and serves on a number of boards. He previously served on the founding board of MaRS Innovation, on the board of BioDiscovery Toronto, chaired the Committee of the Presidents of the Ontario Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, and was co-Chair of the College-University Consortium Council established by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Dr. Tim McTiernan earned a BA (Mod) in Psychology and Philosophy from Trinity College (Dublin) and a MA and PhD in Psychology from the University of British Columbia.

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