Dr. Chakma: New President in the West

Waterloo (UJI Correspondent), 10th February 2009: There is a new leader in town. Goodbye Paul Davenport and hello Amit Chakma. Amit will be running a five-year term as Western's President beginning on July 1, 2009. Already the Western community is thrilled “Our Board believes that Dr. Chakma’s experience, passion and vision make him the perfect choice to lead Western at this time in our history...he has a clear understanding of the contribution Western makes to post secondary education and Western’s impact locally as well as nationally and internationally.”

Currently, Chakma is a Vice-President, Academic & Provost, and a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Chakma, who is 49 years old, began working at the University of Waterloo in 2001. At Waterloo, he was responsible for many things such as developing the annual budget of the university. Now at UWO, Chakma is excited to expand and develop his skill set in order to improve life here at Western.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to build on what is clearly a strong foundation at Western,” said Chakma. “This is an opportune time for Western, and I am truly looking forward to meeting with members of the Western community, the London community and beyond to create even more success.”