People at Laurier

Anthony Vannelli has been appointed provost and vice-president: academic for a five-year term effective August 1. An accomplished academic administrator, researcher and university instructor, Vannelli most recently served as provost and vice-president: academic at the University of Saskatchewan. He holds a Bachelor of Science in applied mathematics and a Master of Science in mathematics from Concordia University and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Waterloo.

Patricia Kitchen, general manager at the Laurier Brantford YMCA, retired from the position in April. Kitchen has been integral to the expansion of facilities and recreational programming at Laurier’s Waterloo and Brantford campuses for the past 15 years. She was appointed the first-ever general manager of the new Laurier Brantford YMCA in March 2018.

Gavin Brockett, associate professor in the departments of History and Religion and Culture, has been appointed acting dean of the Faculty of Arts. Brockett, whose one-year term begins July 1, joined Laurier in 2006 after earning degrees at the University of Victoria, Simon Fraser University and the University of Chicago.

Kathryn Carter’s one-year term as acting dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts has been extended for an additional year until June 30, 2021. Prior to beginning her term as acting dean, Carter served as associate vice-president: Teaching and Learning. Carter has a long history at Laurier's Brantford campus, where she first taught as an instructor in 2000 and became a full-time faculty member in 2002.

Professor Robert Mathieu has been recognized by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario as a fellow, the highest honour bestowed upon chartered professional accountants in the province. Mathieu, who began teaching at the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics in 1998, was one of three faculty members in Ontario to receive the honour in 2019.

Marketing Professor Kalyani Menon has been selected as one of 10 global recipients of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program "2019 Ideas Worth Teaching Awards." The awards are presented to faculty who teach courses that serve to redefine business education. Menon’s undergraduate business course “Marketing and Society” introduces the notion of responsible marketing and consumerism.