June 10, 2020 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Dr. Gillian Balfour has accepted the position of Vice-Principal and Academic Dean of King’s University College, effective August 1, 2020. Dr. Balfour’s appointment comes after a lengthy and thorough search to replace Dr. Sauro Camiletti, who will be retiring July 1 after 45 years of service to the King’s community. She will hold a joint appointment as a full professor in the Departments of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Programs.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to be a part of King’s. The position of Vice-Principal and Academic Dean brings an amazing chance to champion teaching and research committed to social justice in the Catholic tradition. I am moved by the thoughtfulness of the students and faculty I have met during this challenging time. I am so looking forward to being on campus in conversation with our community,” says Dr. Balfour.

“Dr. Balfour brings a wealth of experience as an outstanding scholar, a passionate educator, and experienced administrator. Dr. Balfour's scholarship and teaching has focussed broadly around issues of social justice particularly focused on feminist engagement with respect to the criminal justice system,” says Dr. David Malloy, King’s Principal and head of the Selection Committee.

Dr. Balfour comes to King’s, having been the Associate Dean of Trent (University) Online, and Full Professor of Sociology with a focus on socio-legal studies and criminology. She is a graduate of the University of Ottawa (BSc 1987, M.A Criminology 1994) and University of Manitoba (PhD, 2003).

Her research examines sentencing law reform impacts on Indigenous women and the implications of restorative justice in the context of gender-based violence. She has been conducting an archival study of discipline in Canadian women’s prisons and is a co-investigator on a national study looking at the lived experiences of incarceration. She is member of Canada’s Walls to Bridges collective that provides prison-based learning for incarcerated and non-incarcerated students.

“I wish to thank all members of the selection committee for the tremendous amount of work they put into this process and for their sage advice and their thoughtful discussions,” says Dr. Malloy.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Balfour to the King’s community.

You can follow Dr. Balfour on social media at:

Twitter: @kingsVPAD
Instagram: @kingsvpad