University of British Columbia (UBC) president Arvind Gupta has quit, the university’s board of governors announced August 7.
Martha Piper, who was UBC president between 1997 and 2006, will take over as interim president starting September 1 and running until the end of next June, while the university conducts a comprehensive, global search for a new leader.
The board said in a release that Gupta decided that “he can best contribute to the university and lead Canada’s innovation agenda by resuming his academic career and leadership roles in the business and research community.”
The move comes as s surprise because Gupta had been a relatively new appointee, having only taken up the role as president in March 2014.
During that short tenure he developed an emerging strategy to support diversity and under-represented groups in the university.
He also improved student life by providing more services, such as improved access to mental health care. UBC also successfully raised more than $200 million in one of the largest fundraising exercises in its history. Gupta also facilitated a $66-million research grant that is the single largest in the history of UBC.
“I want to take this time to thank Dr. Gupta for his service to the university community over the past year and acknowledge his hard work, integrity, and dedication,” said John Montalbano, who is the chair of UBC’s board of governors.
