Head and shoulders image of Dr. David Atkinson, dean of Arts and Science.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. David William Atkinson was born in Sunderland, England in 1948, and emigrated to Canada when very young. Educated in Calgary, he attended Indiana University. He returned to the University of Calgary, where he completed his BA (1970) and subsequently earned an MA (1971), and a PhD (1975) in English. Dr. Atkinson was a faculty member at the University of Lethbridge from 1977-1991, where he took on increasingly senior administrative positions, including director of Applied Studies, chair of Religious Studies, associate dean of Arts and Science, and dean of Student Affairs. In 1991 Dr. Atkinson was appointed dean of Arts and Science at the University of Saskatchewan. In 1997 he was appointed president of Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, and in 2005 president of Carleton University in Ottawa. He was appointed president of Kwantlen University College in Surrey, British Columbia. Dr. Atkinson resigned to take up the post of president of MacEwan University in Calgary on 1 July 2011. He is a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International and received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and Diamond Jubilee Medal.