Chemistry professor Rob Lipson has been appointed Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Victoria, effective July 1.
Lipson, senior editor of The Canadian Journal of Chemistry, has been a member of The University of Western Ontario Department of Chemistry since 1986. His research is in the area of laser spectroscopy and analytical chemistry.
Lipson formerly served as department chair and during his tenure, the department experienced significant growth. He was actively involved in the recruitment and hiring of 13 faculty members and several staff members.
He was integral in revamping the undergraduate curriculum, procuring more research space and soliciting funds to improve undergraduate teaching facilities and a Solvent Dispensing Facility.
Lipson told the University of Victoria’s community newspaper, The Ring:
“I have long admired the chemistry department, whose research excellence is well known on the national and international stages,” he says. “What I have recently learned by exploring the expertise and accomplishments of the University of Victoria is just how strong the entire Faculty of Science is across the board in both teaching and in research activities, ranging from fundamental mathematics to more applied work.”
Lipson completed a master’s of science (Physical Chemistry) at the University of Toronto, a PhD in Physics at the University of Toronto, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council in Ottawa.
He is the former director of the Western Institute for Nanomaterials Science (2005–10).
He has been awarded the Distinguished Research Professorship from the Faculty of Science (2008), the E. G. Pleva Teaching Award (2008), and the Florence Bucke Prize for Research Excellence (2000).
Lipson is a fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada (2009) and the former director of the Western Institute for Nanomaterials Science (2005–10).
