McGill University is one of Canada's best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the leading universities in the world. International students from more than 150 countries make up nearly 30% of McGill's student body ‒ the highest proportion of any Canadian research university.
McGill is recognized around the world for the excellence of its teaching and research programs. Ernest Rutherford's Nobel Prize-winning research on the nature of radioactivity was conducted at McGill, part of a long tradition of innovation on our campuses that includes the invention of the artificial blood cell and Plexiglas. Today our professors are building the new field of epigenetics, developing alternative energy sources from crop plants and driving human achievement in every field imaginable.
In addition to a stellar faculty, McGill is known for attracting the brightest students from across Canada, the United States, and around the world. McGill students have the highest average entering grades in Canada, and our commitment to fostering the very best has helped our students win more national and international awards on average than their peers at any other Canadian university. The prestigious Rhodes Scholarship has gone to a nation-leading 145 McGill students.
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Dr. Deep Saini Principal and Vice-Chancellor
Dr. Deep Saini began his term as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University on April 1, 2023.
A career academic and accomplished researcher in plant biology, Dr. Saini brings a unique combination of national post-secondary experience with an international perspective. He most recently served as president of Dalhousie University in Canada and, prior to that, was vice-chancellor and president of the University of Canberra in Australia. Dr. Saini had previously
worked at four of Canada’s U15 universities, including as a vice-president of the University of Toronto and principal of its Mississauga campus, dean of the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo, and director general of the Plant Biology Research Institute at the Université de Montréal.
His awards and recognitions include honours from the Canadian Society of Plant Physiologists, Nanjing University, the Sikh Foundation of Canada, the Royal Society of New South Wales, the Punjab Academy of Sciences and the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce. He was featured in India Abroad’s “2011 Power List” and is the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum and Diamond Jubilee Medals and the NRI Welfare Society of India Hind Rattan Award.
His leadership roles have included governance and advisory roles at national and international levels, presidencies of national professional societies, journal editorships, membership on national and international granting panels, international trade missions, and membership of the Executive Committee for the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities. He is currently the Vice-chair of the Board of Directors for Universities Canada and will begin his term as Chair later this year.
Dr. Saini grew up in India and holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Physiology from the University of Adelaide in Australia. He is fluent in English, French, Hindi and Punjabi.
