Dr. Michael Quinn, Provost and Vice-President Academic
The Provost and Vice-President Academic provides leadership and direction to the academy, ensuring that VIU continues to achieve excellence in teaching, learning, scholarship, and service. This work is guided by the Academic Plan: Weaving Our Journey Together. The purpose expressed in the Academic Plan is to provide access to excellent post-secondary educational opportunities and help our learners embrace their potential through lifelong learning.
Dr. Quinn is passionately committed to reconciliation, decolonization, and growing the space of Indigenous engagement. He is also a firm believer in post-secondary institutions’ support for regional communities. Mike is particularly drawn to experiential approaches to education and the value of academic breadth. He brings more than ten years of academic leadership experience to this role and over 25 years as a teacher and researcher. Mike also brings a depth of knowledge in environmental sustainability with interdisciplinary research experience in parks and protected areas, landscape planning and management, ecological design, human dimensions of wildlife, and sustainability and resilience. He feels privileged to have a career in post-secondary education and thrives on the excitement of teaching and learning across the academy.
He has had a diverse academic career and held positions at the University of New Brunswick, Lakehead University, School for Field Studies (Bamfield), University of Calgary, and Mount Royal University. He holds degrees from the University of Alberta (BSc Forest Science and MSc in Forest Science (Conservation Biology); and York University (Ph.D. in Environmental Studies).
When not working, Mike enjoys the outdoors especially hiking, biking, boating, and fly fishing.