SFU’s new president feeling a bit of déjà vu
Leading the university during pandemic takes Joy Johnson back to front lines of ’80s AIDS crisis
Joy Johnson has taken charge this week as the 10th president and vice-chancellor of Simon Fraser University.
“These are indeed interesting times to take on the presidency of a university,” Johnson said on Tuesday, the second day of her tenure.
Johnson is a professor and former vice-president research and international at SFU, but has a deep background in public health that may come in handy as she steers the university through its adaptations to the COVID19 pandemic.
Johnson said the first thing on her agenda is the safety and well-being of students, staff and faculty.
Johnson began her professional life as a nurse, and worked at St. Paul’s Hospital in the West End in the 1980s during the HIV/AIDS crisis.
“It feels a little like déjà vu — very different dynamics obviously, but people are fearful and there are a lot of unknowns, so that feels very familiar,” said Johnson.
After spending a few years as a bedside nurse, Johnson returned to graduate school at the University of Alberta to challenge herself. There, Johnson discovered she loved research and teaching and went on to earn her PhD in gender and public health, delving into how social conditions and gender shape health opportunities and outcomes.
Her work led to a professorship at the University of B.C., and later to a seven-year stint as scientific director for the Institute of Gender and Health of the Canadian Institute for Health Research.
After taking on the role of vice-president research at SFU in 2014, Johnson grew SFU’s research income from $103 million to $161 million. She also secured two Canada 150 Chairs for the university, launched numerous operational initiatives and led SFU’s equity, diversion and inclusion initiatives. As president she is responsible for operations, academic programs, budget and developing a vision and strategy across all faculties within the university.