After a rigorous and highly deliberative process, Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano has been appointed Toronto Metropolitan University’s 10th President and Vice-Chancellor, the first woman to hold the role. She will begin a five-year term beginning in January 2027.
With over 20 years in academia, Iannacito-Provenzano joined the TMU community as vice-provost, faculty affairs in August 2020, after holding progressive academic administrative roles at other institutions. She was appointed interim provost and vice-president, academic, in October 2022 and has officially served as TMU’s provost and vice-president, academic, since June 2023.
FACULTY AND RESEARCH UPDATES
Congratulations to our Faculty Members
New Appointments
Dr. Joseph Aversa, Chair, Department of Retail
Dr. Yuanshun Li, Interim Chair, Department of Finance
Dr. Laleh Samarbakhsh, Associate Dean, Graduate Programs
Dr. Hasko von Kriegstein, Chair, Department of Law and Business
Dr. Al Goss, Interim Graduate Program Director, Master of Business Administration.
Renewals and Continuing Appointments
Dr. Valentina Antonipillai, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Services Management
Dr. Puspinder Gill, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing Management
Dr. Ethan Milne, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing Management
Dr. Aviva Philipp-Muller, Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing Management
Dr. Sherif Saad, Associate Professor, Loretta Rogers Research Chair in Cybersecurity Analytics, School of Information Technology Management (starts in Jan 2027)
Dr. Milad Shirvani, Assistant Professor, Department of Global Management Studies
New and returning Limited Term Faculty Associate Professors to the Ted Rogers School for the 2026-2027 academic year:
Dr. Shereen Altamimi, Department of Retail
Dr. Elham Heydari-Gharaei, Department of Global Management Studies
Dr. Thanuja Thananayagam, Department of Human Resources Management and Organizational Behaviour
Dr. Muhammad Rehman Zafar, School of Information Technology Management
Dr. Shokouh Abadi, Department of Law and Business
Dr. Shirin Seyedsalehi, School of Information Technology Management
Innovation and impact
Research funding
Over the summer, the Government of Canada has announced new funding to support the research of 74 faculty experts from TMU. Congratulations to our Ted Rogers School faculty members who received Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants to support their following innovative projects:
Rupa Banerjee: Selecting by “Skill?”: The Role and Impact of Standardized Occupational Classifications in Canadian (Im)migration Policies
Lucas Dufour: The risks of overselling: The effects of organizational prestige and impression management tactics on newcomers’ psychological contract, intention to leave, and adjustment
Janice Rudkowski: Making it Circular: An Investigation of Making, Repairing, Reusing and Recycling in Third Places
Fei Song: What Happens When Employees Learn How Much Their Boss Makes? The Effects of Vertical Pay Transparency on Employee Behaviour, Firm Productivity, and Labour Market Outcomes
Ozgur Turetken: Re-configuring Knowledge Work in the Age of Generative AI – An Empirical Perspective
Hossein Zolfagharinia: Beyond Disruptions: Quantitative Approaches to Resilience in Canada’s Meat Supply Chain
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) performed well in several areas of this year’s Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects, including Management and Business Administration. Highlights in the 2026 ranking include:
Tied for 3rd-8th in Canada for Management, and moved up to the 101-150 band in the world.
Tied for 12th-16th in Canada for Business Administration, and remained in the 201-300 band globally.
ALUMNI
2026 Alumni Achievement Awards
Marking the ten year anniversary of the celebration, the 2026 Alumni Achievement Awards was held in June. Hosted by Simrah Ali (Economics and Management Science ‘’21), the event captured the passion for community and mentorship of graduates. It brought together new recipients, past award winners and the community at large to celebrate the Ted Rogers School’s past, and look to the next decade.
Is your organization one of this year's award winners?
The Top Co-op Employer awards celebrate our partners who have set the standard for student development. The awards boost employer branding, highlight your organization's leadership in connecting to the Ted Roger School's talent pipeline. Your unwavering dedication to creating meaningful job opportunities and advocating for our students is the foundation of our program’s success. Thanks in large part to your leadership and support, we are proud to celebrate the outstanding organizations that go above and beyond for Ted Rogers School students.
We would like you to know these dates in advance:
Monday, September 28, 2026: Award-winning organizations will receive an embargoed media kit to help prepare their announcements. Check if your organization is this year's award recipient.
Monday, October 5, 2026: Public launch across the Ted Roger School’s channels, and a congratulatory letter to the winners from Dean Cynthia Holmes. Please feel free to amplify and re-post!
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to building these vital industry connections.
Boardroom Bound Fund
As Advisory Council members, you are constantly looking for the gaps that can stand between our students and their success. Together, we work to close gaps in knowledge, create opportunities to build skills and experience, and connect students with the networks and mentors that can help them move forward.
But for some students, there is another gap they are carrying with them every day.
The gap between needing a meal on campus and being able to afford one.
The gap between having an important class or event to attend and being able to afford the transit fare to get there.
The gap between being invited to an interview or event and having the professional attire needed to show up with confidence.
You can make an impact.
The Boardroom Bound Fund helps close these gaps so that financial barriers do not prevent students from fully participating in the opportunities we work so hard to create for them. A special thank you to our Advisory Council members who have already helped students access these defining moments through the Boardroom Bound Fund. Because of you, the fund has supported 133 students, and we’re just getting started.
Dean’s Circle
The Dean's Circle grows from a strong community, alumni, faculty, staff and business leaders who care about what our Ted Rogers School students need and show up for them. As a member of this inner circle, you work closely with the Dean to help shape the next generation of global innovators and leaders coming out of the Ted Rogers School.
This year, the Dean’s Circle sent nine students to Japan for the Global Entrepreneurship Exchange Program in June 2026. The program lasted six days working alongside students from Japanese universities, including Chiba University, on real challenges around regional revitalization surrounding Narita International Airport. Thank you to everyone in the Dean’s Circle who made that possible.
If you want to help drive this kind of impactful change, we would love to invite you to join the Dean’s Circle.
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Toronto Metropolitan University - Ted Rogers School of Management
55 Dundas Street West, Toronto ON, CA M5G 2C3
In April 2022, Ryerson University announced our new name – Toronto Metropolitan University – which will be implemented in a phased approach. Learn more about our next chapter.
