Quest University Canada is pleased to announce that Dr. George Iwama has accepted the nomination from the Board of Governors to become the University’s third Chancellor, succeeding Dr. Daniel Birch. Dr. Iwama received his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of British Columbia specializing in fish physiology and aquaculture. After postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Texas and Dalhousie University, he returned to UBC to join the faculty in Animal Science, where he was subsequently tenured and granted full professorship. In 2000 he went on to serve four years as Director General of the National Research Council’s Institute for Marine Biosciences in Halifax and led the creation of the NRC Institute for Nutriscience and Health on Prince Edward Island.
In 2004 Dr. Iwama joined Acadia University as the Dean of Science and then became Vice President Academic and Provost. In 2007 he became Dean of Science at Carleton University. In 2009 he began his tenure as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Northern British Columbia. During his time as President, he strengthened the university’s relationship within the University of the Arctic consortium and hosted the Undergraduate Regional Office for North America. In addition, he spearheaded campus sustainability efforts, sharing the 2010 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education award with Harvard University.
In 2014 Dr. Iwama returned to his native island to join the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University as Executive Vice President, subsequently serving as Provost and Vice-CEO. He returned home to Vancouver in 2016 and has been actively developing several projects at his alma mater, UBC, as Vice-Dean of Aquaculture and Strategic Initiatives in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and as Assistant Director of the Institute for the Oceans & Fisheries in the Faculty of Science. He also is an editor for the journal Aquaculture from Elsevier Press.
During Dr. George Iwama’s tenure at Acadia University, he piloted a block teaching program and had the opportunity to share his experiences with our Founder, Dr. David Strangway, and learn more about Quest. He has stated that it will be an honour and a pleasure for him to serve as the next Chancellor of Quest University Canada.