Susan Porter
Susan Porter, a Clinical Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, has been appointed Dean, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Dr. Porter, who has been serving in the role as Dean pro tem since April 2011, begins her three-year term begins Dec. 1.
Dr. Porter’s has served as Associate Dean, Professional Development, in the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Assistant Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Education in the Faculty of Medicine, and Graduate Advisor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1980 and her PhD in Biochemistry from UBC in 1988. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia from 1989 to 1991, and then returned to UBC as a faculty member.
After an initial focus on basic research in molecular genetics, she moved to molecular-based diagnostics development and oversight, serving as Scientist for the Division of Medical Microbiology & Infection Control at Vancouver General Hospital for 15 years.
“Susan cares deeply about the graduate and postdoctoral experience, and has been a tireless advocate for strategies to attract and retain the best graduate students from around the world,” wrote David Farrar, UBC’s Provost and Vice-President Academic, in the announcement of her appointment. “She has championed improved support for graduate students and has overseen fundamental changes to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
“She brings a strong commitment to academic formation and professional development of graduate and postdoctoral fellows,” Dr. Farrar wrote. ”Her efforts to promote career-related development and the preparation of research-based learners not only to create new knowledge and ways of understanding, but to use that knowledge and skill with ‘integrity, responsibility, and generosity,’ are helping to prepare graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who will make a positive difference in the world.”