Neuroscientist named president of MacEwan University

Neuroscientist and university administrator Deborah Saucier has been named the next president of MacEwan University in Edmonton.

Saucier starts her new position July 1.

Outgoing president David Atkinson, who has held the position for six years, will return to teaching in the university's department of English in July 2018, the institution said in a news release.

Saucier comes to MacEwan from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa, where she is the provost and vice-president, academic and the former dean of science.

Before joining UOIT, Saucier was chair of the department of neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge and a Tier 2 Canada research chair in behavioural neuroscience, with a specialty in spatial cognition.

Saucier said she is "delighted and honoured" to have been selected as MacEwan's next president.

"The enthusiasm and energy of the university shines through its people and I am excited to join such an innovative and unique institution that is so focused on making transformational change in the lives of Albertans."

Originally from Saskatoon, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology at the University of Victoria and her PhD inpsychology from Western University in London, Ont.

Enzo Barichello, acting chair of MacEwan's board of governors, said the search process was comprehensive and that Saucier was the unanimous choice.