TORONTO, January 12, 2010 -- Jennifer Sloan, a senior communications and public affairs executive, has been appointed by York University to the new post of vice-president university relations.
Sloan was most recently executive vice-president, corporate affairs, with the mining firm Vale Inco, based in Toronto. She has also served the Government of Canada in a number of senior positions, including director of communications in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and as consul, political & economic relations and public affairs, at the Canadian Consulate General in New York City.
“I am very pleased that Jennifer Sloan has accepted the position of vice-president university relations,” said York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. “I have every confidence that her many years of experience as a communications leader will help us tell York’s story to the world.”
Sloan, who begins her five-year term today, said: “I believe York has tremendous potential and energy, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to help communicate York’s aspirations and successes within the communities we serve.”
The new University Relations division was created in an effort to streamline and consolidate the outreach efforts of three units: Marketing & Communications, the Office of University Events & Community Relations and the Office of Alumni & Advancement Services. “The new vice-president, who will be one of my direct reports, will be tasked with determining the final organizational structure of the University Relations division,” Shoukri said.
Sloan has a BA in journalism from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. After joining the Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade in 1989, she served as its spokesperson from 1993 to 1996, dealing with many high-profile and controversial issues. She later spent five years as director of communications alongside cabinet minister John Manley in his several portfolios, including deputy prime minister and minister of finance.
From 2004 to 2007, she served in New York as consul, reporting to Consul General Pamela Wallin, now a senator.
At Vale Inco, Sloan led a global corporate affairs team responsible for public affairs, stakeholder relations, government relations, corporate branding and emergency management.
She currently chairs the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication Alumni Board. She is a board member of the Canadian American Business Council and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 200,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 Faculties and 28 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
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Media Contact:
Alex Bilyk, Director, Media Relations, York University, 416 736 2100 x55603 / bilyk@yorku.ca
