The Division of Student Affairs and the Board of the Ban Righ Foundation welcome Susan Belyea as the new director of the Ban Righ Centre.

Belyea succeeds Carole Morrison, who has moved to the position of associate director, operations and business development in Career Services.

Belyea brings extensive leadership and administrative experience with not-for-profit organizations, and as a successful small business owner, to this important role. She founded and ran Fireworks Glass Studio locally for 17 years, developing planning, finance and management skills. She is also co-founder of Loving Spoonful and served as its first executive director. She worked with a board of directors, staff, volunteers, donors and community advisors to grow Loving Spoonful into a sustainable charitable organization that works to meet the needs of food insecure populations in Kingston. 

Belyea enrolled at Queen’s as a mature student and completed a PhD in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies in 2018. Her dissertation focused on food provisioning in Canada and Cuba, and she brings to the directorship a global perspective – also acquired through more than 20 years of welcoming international students into her home.

Belyea has taught and supervised undergraduate students for the past five years, and is finishing up a post-doctoral fellowship. During her studies, she spent many hours writing at the Ban Righ Centre, and knows first-hand what a special community and space it is for Queen’s, and the positive impact it has on the lives and academic success of mature women students.