Loyalist College names senior VP acting president

Mark Kirkpatrick

Loyalist College’s senior vice-president Mark Kirkpatrick has been appointed acting president, following the resignation announcement of Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan as president and CEO.

Kirkpatrick takes on the duties Aug. 1 until the next president and CEO has been selected and commences their term.

“Mark has been a highly-valued member of the college executive team,” said Vaughan, who will begin her term as president and CEO of Humber College Aug. 29.

After joining Loyalist in 2005 as director, information technology, Kirkpatrick modernized the IT department, enhanced cyber security systems and new software development processes. In 2014, he became senior director and led renovations of the Northumberland Wing to enable leading-edge interprofessional simulation training in Health, Human and Justice Studies. He also transformed the outdoor spaces on campus, including the creation of the A’nó:wara Learning Circle to create more inclusive spaces on campus for Indigenous students and employees, and the bike/pedestrian path to build on Loyalist’s intrinsic connection to the city of Belleville by physically connecting the college campus to the city’s cyclist network and downtown.

Four years ago, he established the college’s first capital plan that reimagined the facilities and joined the college executive team as acting senior vice-president, corporate services and CFO before officially being appointed to the role in February 2020.

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shortly thereafter, Kirkpatrick led the college’s response which included leading students and employees to launch two regional immunization clinics on campus which saw more than 60,000 vaccines administered under the guidance of Public Health.

Kirkpatrick holds a Master of Business Administration from the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University and has an Applied Science Degree from Queen’s University. He is a licensed electrical engineer. He and his wife live in Belleville and have three adult children and two grandchildren.