Saeed Zolfaghari
Appointed vice-president, administration and operations
Saeed Zolfaghari takes on the role in January 2022. In 2020-2021, he was interim provost and vice-president, academic, serving as the university’s chief academic officer and chief operating officer at a time marked by the challenges of the pandemic. Prior to his time as interim provost, Zolfaghari served as vice-provost, faculty affairs for six years, where his responsibilities included setting strategic direction for appointments of faculty and contract lecturers and overseeing programs that foster faculty development and renewal. He joined Ryerson in 1999 as a tenure-track assistant professor with the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and is a fellow at the Engineering Institute of Canada.
Steven Liss
Reappointed vice-president, research and innovation
The vice-president since 2017, Steven Liss has led unprecedented growth and reputational positioning of the scholarly, research and creative activity. Under his leadership, annual research and contract revenues have grown substantially: 63 per cent in 2018-19 and a projected 31 per cent for 2019-20. This has included significant increases in funding from all three Canadian funding agencies (NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR) and international funding. In the most recent survey, Ryerson ranked second for corporate research income growth and fourth for cross-sectoral collaboration among comprehensive universities. Liss begins a new five-year term in March 2022.
Kiaras Gharabaghi
Appointed dean, Faculty of Community Services (FCS)
Kiaras Gharabaghi, the new dean of FCS, joined Ryerson in 2006 and became the director of the School of Child and Youth Care in 2014 where he oversaw major projects such as the development of more graduate and undergraduate student placement opportunities, partnerships with Ryerson International to enable students to study abroad, and the school’s graduate program. Previously, Gharabaghi served as the FCS academic lead for social innovation, and the John C. Eaton chair of social innovation and entrepreneurship. He launched the FCS Community Transformation Café, an event series offering space for dialogue on transformation and social justice.
