Dr. Ian Sutherland most recently served as a vice-president of Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador, with primary responsibility for leading the Grenfell Campus — an institution dedicated to the liberal arts and science tradition, in the tight-knit community of Corner Brook. Prior to that appointment, he served for five years as Dean of Memorial University’s School of Music and six years as Associate Dean (Research) and Director of Doctoral Studies at the IEDC-Bled School of Management in Slovenia. He has also held research and teaching appointments in the United Kingdom, Poland, and Germany and provided consulting services in more than forty countries worldwide.

Read his full bio at mta.ca/president

Why Mount Allison?

Mount Allison is amongst the most exceptional Canadian universities. I feel privileged, honoured, and humbled to be given the opportunity to now call such an incredible place home. Originally, I heard of Mount Allison through musical circles and my piano teacher when I was in high school, Yvonne Courtney (‘80), who is a graduate. What I have always suspected and now proven true is the secret sauce of Mount Allison is the close-knit community where everybody is a name and never a number. That is the story I heard 30 years ago and it is why I am here today because it is the kind of university that is the best kind of place for students to learn, develop, and grow and for faculty to do research and community work together in interdisciplinary spaces.

What have you found most surprising so far?

The mosquitoes [he laughs].

What I think has surprised me the most is how embracing, warm, and welcoming the community has been. We expected that, but it was on the order of magnitude, more than either of us [husband Jernej] would have expected.

You are one of the youngest university presidents in Canada at 44 and Mount Allison’s first queer President. Tell me what this means to you to be here at this point in your career and the importance of representation for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community at the highest level of leadership.

I have thought about these questions many times. When I was younger, even when I was a university student, it was unfathomable that anybody of the 2SLGBTQIA+ communities would ever be “out” and in this kind of role. That was 20-plus years ago. The progress since then has been incredible. I am thankful for the enormous efforts of so many over the decades, fighting for our rights often at great harm and cost to themselves and I am grateful for the little I have been able to contribute to the struggle over the years.

While progress is substantial, let us not forget that there is a lot of progress yet to go for all equity deserving folks, including queer folks. There are still relatively few people from equity-deserving backgrounds in the most senior positions within organizations; but representation is growing. I hope for the next generations that the doors are ever more open. If even one younger equity- deserving person looks to my appointment and thinks “yeah, I can do that one day” then we’ve made another step forward.

What are your next steps for strategic planning for the University?

I am looking forward to working with the entire community of faculty, staff, students, alumni and so on to develop a new, exciting, ambitious, aspirational plan to guide Mount Allison into its third century of impact. My approach to strategic planning is always to do it ground up, highly consultative, and iteratively so that the community can always give feedback and feed into the process. It is our collective wisdom, aspirations, and ambitions coming together that will set us off towards our next century of being one of the very best universities anywhere.

What have you enjoyed most about living in Sackville?

The first and most clichéd, but it’s really true, is the warmth of the people. Within a couple of weeks of being here we had already been invited to our neighbors for afternoon tea and coffee. Another had a neighborhood party to welcome us, and university folks were so gracious and giving of their time in helping us move into Hammond House.

Number two is the beauty of Sackville. Just the ability to walk around a beautiful small town with a beautiful Waterfowl Park and so on is just an absolute joy. Luka, our poodle, especially enjoys the walks!

The third is that Sackville, for the size of the town, punches way above its weight in terms of amenities and establishments. For example, Jernej and I delighted in going to a different restaurant or café almost every day for the first couple of weeks we were here — check out my Instagram (@iandamonsutherland) for those culinary experiences!

Tell us a bit about your academic work and where that is focused?

I have an acute case of intellectual curiosity, so I am inherently an interdisciplinarian. On the one hand I have a background in music/performing arts as a pianist and choral conductor. But most of my academic research work is in the field of leadership studies, management, organizational behaviour, particularly leadership development. My PhD is actually in cultural sociology, but my first professional academic job was as a research fellow in a centre for leadership studies. That brought me into the leadership, management, and business world.

Since then, much of my work has been in business schools, leadership development and research, best known for my work in leadership practice and development, with a particular focus on the aesthetics of leadership, leadership learning, and arts-based methods of leadership development.

As an academic leader, it’s fundamental to me to remain an academic — and I have some cool research plans ahead. I’m particularly interested in developing new research projects on the career narratives of 2SLGBTQIA+ folks navigating the heteronormativity of organizations and organizational life, especially the stories, agency, and action strategies of queer leaders — what are their life histories, their experiences of being queer in and outside of organizations, their career pathways, and so on.

What are you passionate about outside of work?

Travelling and our poodle Luka!

I also want to give a shout out to my husband Jernej. I could not do the work I do if it were not for him. He’s my rock, my support, my world. Love you!