Professor Stephen Wright — appointed acting dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science from April 15 to May 31, 2025 — has had his term extended. He will continue as acting dean until June 30, 2025, and will then serve as interim dean from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, or until a new dean is appointed.
Professor Melanie Woodin — appointed the 17th president of the University of Toronto, effective July 1, 2025 — stepped down from her role as dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science on April 15, 2025, to focus on the leadership transition.
Wright most recently served as vice-dean, research & infrastructure at the Faculty of Arts & Science. He was previously the chair of the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from 2019 to 2022. He joined the University of Toronto in 2008 as an assistant professor and became a full professor in 2016.
Throughout his career, Wright has received numerous honors, including the E.W.R. Steacie Fellowship, a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, the Steacie Prize for Natural Sciences, and the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution’s President’s Award for Research Excellence. He also received the Margaret Dayhoff Award for Research Excellence.
In 2024, Wright served as president of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution. He was admitted to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada in 2015 and became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2024.
More information about the search process for a new dean will be shared in Fall 2025.