Principal Daniel Woolf announced today that Tom Harris will be stepping down from his position as vice-principal of Advancement effective June 30, 2018.

“Tom has been an exceptional member of Queen’s senior leadership team and I thank him for everything he has accomplished in the past eight years at Advancement,” says Principal Daniel Woolf. “He and his team poured a tremendous amount of effort and enthusiasm into the Queen’s Initiative Campaign, successfully surpassing the half-billion-dollar goal. The university community will benefit for years to come from Tom’s hard work and dedication. I wish him all the very best in his next endeavours.”

Vice-Principal Harris graduated from Queen’s with a Bachelor of Science in 1975 and returned in 1986 as a faculty member and Queen’s National Scholar in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He was department head before serving as dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science from 1996 to 2007.

Benefactor support reached $640 million in the Initiative Campaign, which began in 2006. More than 60,000 donors, 35,000 of them alumni, contributed to the campaign. The funds support numerous university programs and initiatives, including scholarships and bursaries, new learning spaces, and enhancements to existing classrooms, libraries, and labs. Fundraising efforts through Advancement over the past few years will also support the construction of the new Innovation and Wellness Centre, slated to open in fall 2018.

“When I arrived at Queen’s as an Engineering undergraduate in the fall of 1971, I could not have imagined the twists and turns my career path would take. And I certainly did not anticipate that I would spend eight fulfilling years at Summerhill,” says VP Harris. “It has been a privilege to serve the university in this position. More than just a privilege, it has been an education – one that rivals the education I received here as a student so many years ago.”

VP Harris will remain with Advancement until June 30, 2018, at which point he’ll make a return to research and to the Department of Chemical Engineering.