Fanshawe College welcomes new dean of research

Fanshawe College recently announced the appointment of Alison Ewart as dean of research leading the College’s Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI), effective September 27, 2021.

“Alison’s experience, collaborative approach and network will help advance CRI’s efforts to unlock innovation that drives the regional economy forward by engaging in applied research projects to solve real-world problems,“ says Gary Lima, Fanshawe’s senior vice-president academic. “I am looking forward to great things from Alison and the talented research team.”

Ewart has nearly 20 years of experience in the research sector. She has spent the past 13 years with Mitacs, a national organization focused on increasing innovation in Canada through applied research and talent development programs. She held progressively senior roles as Mitacs grew from a complement of 30 to more than 300 employees. In her most recent role as vice-president of programs, Ewart led a 35-person team in the design, development and operations of innovative research-funding programs.

Other notable achievements during her tenure at Mitacs include:

• Establishing over 50 industrial-academic applied research collaborations;
• Overseeing the launch of nine new Mitacs research and innovation funding programs;
• Developing novel partnerships with United Ways across Canada to support research into social inclusion;
• Working in partnership with federal tri-councils research funding agencies to design joint funding programs for the research community;
• Leading the consultation efforts for the introduction of Mitacs’s programming to the college community;./li>

“I am excited to be joining the research team at Fanshawe and look forward to advancing the research activities in support of the broader student, faculty, and industrial community,” says Ewart.

Ewart holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of British Columbia and has co-authored numerous research papers and funding applications. She also holds several leadership roles within the community including as a board member for both the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario and Habitat for Humanity, Sarnia/Lambton and as vice-chair of the County of Lambton Community Development Corporation’s Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park board.

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