Woodsworth will fill position left after surprise departure of last president
Concordia University confirmed Friday that Judith Woodsworth will serve as its next president and vice-chancellor.
Woodsworth, who worked at Concordia in various positions for 17 years, will start her new job August 1. She earned her bachelor’s and PhD degree at McGill and attended graduate school in France. She has been president of Laurentian University since 2002 and was vice-president (academic) at Mount Saint Vincent for five years before that.
“Like Laurentian, Concordia has also grown tremendously in the last decade and has taken its place in this great University City of Montreal,” said Peter Kruyt, chairperson of the Board of Governors. “The financial restraints, however, of all Quebec Universities makes good planning an essential component of prudent oversight and Dr Woodsworth has a solid track record in this regard.”
Woodsworth will take over from Claude Lajeunesse, who left office suddenly only two years into his five-year term, attracting speculation of conflict among top Concordia officials. Despite a particularly affable press release announcing his departure, the Montreal Gazette reported that “a fundamental clash of operating styles appears to be at the root of the abrupt exit.” The newspaper quoted an anonymous university insider who said that the board had been “uncomfortable” with the president for the past year and that he wasn’t a “people person.”