Following seven years of committed service as Vice-President, Academic and Provost, Dr. James Rush has made the personal decision to step down from his role effective June 30, 2025.
I am grateful to Provost Rush for his commitment and leadership during my tenure as President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. The University has benefited from his leadership, especially through periods of great change and challenge.
Jim has played a pivotal role in leading this institution, in particular through the COVID-19 pandemic, directing academic and non-academic strategy. He has championed interdisciplinarity in academic work, creating the Provost’s Interdisciplinary Networks Fund to support cross-faculty networks, programs and initiatives in Academic, Research and Community building areas.
Jim has been pivotal in supporting equity and Indigenous reconciliation. Under his leadership, Waterloo created offices and leadership roles at the AVP level for equity, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism, and Indigenous relations. He has also promoted recruitment of Indigenous and Black faculty, overseen the introduction of tuition relief for Indigenous students, introduced more holistic admissions practices and championed the development of the newly opened Indigenous outdoor gathering space.
As Provost, he has also led on improving student service coordination and the creation of spaces to support students through the Student Service Centre, International Experience Centre and the proposed Indigenous Student Centre.
Perhaps most importantly, Jim has led with a focus on enhancing support, coordination and efficiency that will help with the long-term sustainability of our institution. He has reimagined the Office of the Provost to provide clearer leadership on integrated planning and budgeting, and on faculty planning and policy. This includes leadership development for academic administrators – an important part of our future leadership picture.
I trust you will all join me in thanking Provost Rush for his service and wish him well as he returns to the Faculty of Health after an administrative leave. Jim has kindly agreed to support the transition and has committed to be available to work on projects that continue to advance our institutional priorities.
I will appoint an interim Vice-President, Academic and Provost effective July 1, 2025, in order to allow for my successor as President and Vice-Chancellor to conduct a search for a permanent replacement. You can expect to hear details on these next steps in the near future.
