VANCOUVER – The mystery over the future of former University of British Columbia president Arvind Gupta has been solved.
Gupta is returning to his alma mater after being appointed distinguished visiting professor in the University of Toronto’s computer science department, reported Canadian Press.
The appointment covers the 2015-2016 academic year.
The chairman of the computer science department at University of Toronto says Gupta will conduct independent research and collaborate with faculty and senior leadership to develop relationships between the university, industry and government.
Gupta was appointed president of UBC in July 2014 and stepped down in August, saying only that he would return to his academic career as a computer science professor at the post-secondary institution.
Gupta’s abrupt resignation in August just a year into his five-year term as University of British Columbia’s president took many by surprise. He said at the time he would return to his academic career as a computer science professor at the post-secondary institution.
“With U of T being an urban university and right downtown, there’ll be lots of opportunities to build new kinds of links,” Gupta said in a statement.
“The president’s really talked a lot about making these sorts of connections. I’ll be very interested to see how I can contribute.”
Meanwhile UBC has seen a string of recent controversies since Gupta’s resignation.
The university is investigating claims a professor was intimidated over a blog post suggesting Gupta lost a “masculinity contest” with the school’s leadership. John Montalbano then stepped down as chair of UBC’s board of governors while maintaining he did not compromise a professor’s academic freedom.
Martha Piper, who was UBC president from 1997 to 2006, has return to the role on an interim basis while the university finds a permanent replacement.
