Dr. Patrick Deane

Patrick Deane is the seventh President and Vice-Chancellor of McMaster University. He began his five-year term on July 1, 2010.

Dr. Deane came to McMaster from Queen’s University, where he served a five-year term as vice-principal (Academic).

"McMaster is one of the country's most dynamic universities with a record of innovation and integration of research and teaching," says Dr. Deane. “It’s a first-rate University with a great history. It combines very high academic standards with innovation, creativity and openness to new ways of doing things. I’m extremely proud to be a member of the McMaster family.”

Deane was born and raised in South Africa where he studied English and Law at the University of Witwatersrand. He immigrated to Canada in 1978 and studied English Literature at the University of Western Ontario earning his M.A. in 1980 and his Ph.D. in 1985. He began his academic career at the University of Toronto but returned to Western to join the Department of English in 1988, the same year he was awarded the John Charles Polanyi Prize for Literature. He was appointed chair in 1997.

In 2001 Deane became the vice-president (Academic) at the University of Winnipeg. He also served for two years as senior university officer for Inter-Universities North, the consortium of three universities delivering post-secondary programs in Northern Manitoba. He became acting-president of the University of Winnipeg in 2002.

He returned to Ontario in 2005, accepting a position at Queen's University providing academic leadership to all seven faculties and schools, the Office of the Registrar, Institutional Planning and Analysis, and Student Affairs.

His wife, Sheila Deane, is a writer and former academic in English and Women's Studies. Their daughter, Petra, is a graduate student at Cornell University and their son, Colin, is an undergraduate student at the University of Winnipeg.