Tag Archives: John Montalbano

Thank you Chair Montalbano and Chancellor Gordon: UBC couldn’t have done it without you

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Ghoussoub

“I think governance is always expressive of the gang that are there doing it at any one point in time.” With this statement, Stuart Belkin seems to be distancing himself from the practices of former Chair, John Montalbano, Chancellor Lindsay … Continue reading →

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Handling of conflicts of interest should be high on UBC’s governance reform

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Ghoussoub

Any discussion of governance reform that will move UBC forward, and facilitate the task of the next president, must not only address the procedural irregularities around Gupta’s dismissal, but must also identify those who resisted the former president’s proposed changes … Continue reading →

Posted in Board of Governors, UBC Presidential Search | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Decolonizing our imaginations and building a university that reflects our society

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Ghoussoub

It looks like Stuart Belkin is now a member of the UBC presidential search committee. This could have been a welcome positive gesture to the faculty had he replaced Lindsay Gordon in the Chair. Unfortunately, he seems to have taken … Continue reading →

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Arvind Gupta was never given a chance: A personal account

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Ghoussoub

This post was published by the Vancouver Sun. My first reaction to the resignation of UBC president Arvind Gupta was relief – Arvind’s nightmare was finally over. He could go back to what he does best: work to make this … Continue reading →

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The students join the faculty in requesting a judicial review of the UBC Board of Governors

Posted on February 5, 2016 by Ghoussoub

In a major reversal of past positions vis-a-vis president Gupta’s departure from UBC, the Student Society of UBC-Vancouver issued a public statement expressing disappointment in the process followed by the Board of Governors as revealed by the recent leaks. The AMS urges “the … Continue reading →

Posted in Board of Governors, Op-eds, UBC Presidential Search | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Artificial Intelligence uncovers how Gupta and Montalbano became blood brothers

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Ghoussoub

In view of the sudden resignation of UBC’s president and the limited but informative statements provided by the Chair of the Board, a colleague decided to perform a computer-assisted reconstruction of the events that led to the resignation. She fed … Continue reading →

Posted in Board of Governors, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 7 Comments

UBC, WTF?

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Ghoussoub

Originally posted on Whiteboard Workout:
If there’s a lesson to be learned from the recent events at UBC, it’s that silence can say more than words, whether you’re withholding information or telling someone else to keep quiet. That probably sounds…

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PR consultants, the “UBC side” and the rest of us

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Ghoussoub

CBC Radio Early Edition host Rick Cluff introduced me at the beginning of the segment as someone who has been teaching at UBC for 38 years. Yet at the very end of my interview, he announced that “tomorrow, we will … Continue reading →

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UBC faculty to the Premier of BC: Help us out of this crisis

Posted on August 27, 2015 by Ghoussoub

Two new types of allegations came out regarding John Montalbano, since I wrote 2 weeks ago the open letter asking him to resign from the UBC Board of Governors. One deals with his role in potentially compromising the academic freedom of one of … Continue reading →

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Why the UBC Leadership Crisis Matters Beyond the Ivory Tower, by Professor E. Wayne Ross

Posted on August 23, 2015 by Ghoussoub

The ongoing drama at University of British Columbia may look like a tempest in a teapot, but the dispute among university governors, managers, and faculty has implications that reach beyond the ivory tower. Two principles are at the heart of the … Continue reading →

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The cataclysmic effect of masculinity contests on the ivory tower

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Ghoussoub

In a full-court press carefully engineered yesterday by damage control experts at the PR firm Kirk & Co, the chair of the UBC Board of Governors, John Montalbano, used two lines of defense in his effort to justify his unwise … Continue reading →

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Prominent UBC Professor and FRSC, James Zidek, calls on Montalbano to resign

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Ghoussoub

This is a comment directed to Mr. John Montalbano regarding the announced resignation of Professor Arvind Gupta from the Presidency of UBC. In my 49 years at UBC in various professorial and administrative positions, I have never seen a situation as badly … Continue reading →

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An open letter to Angela Redish, interim UBC president, by Mark Mac Lean

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Ghoussoub

Dear Dr. Redish, The Faculty Association at the University of British Columbia strongly supports and acknowledges the University’s commitment to academic freedom. We particularly support and agree with your unqualified commitment set out in the Statement from UBC on Academic … Continue reading →

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Unclear on the Concept: the UBC Board of Governors, by Elizabeth Hodgson

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Ghoussoub

The UBC Board of Governors has spoken out in the last 24 hours on its two related controversies which have made the national news. As a UBC faculty member, I am deeply distressed by the UBC Board’s apparent choices in … Continue reading →

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An open letter to John Montalbano, chair of the UBC Board of Governors

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Ghoussoub

Dear Sir, I have been a faculty member at UBC for 38 years, and I have served this great university in many other functions, including six years on the Board of Governors (2008-14), three of them on the Board’s Management … Continue reading →

Posted in Board of Governors | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Beyond UBC’s clumsy announcement regarding Gupta’s resignation

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Ghoussoub

There are many puzzled, devastated, concerned and angry friends, colleagues and citizens wanting to learn about what happened at UBC last Friday evening. How can a promising energetic UBC president with far-reaching and refreshing ideas be led to resign after … Continue reading →

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Bye Bye Board

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Ghoussoub

Yesterday was my last day on the UBC Board of Governors, the end of an extremely rewarding six-year stint. To the faculty who elected me decisively twice for the Board and another time for the Presidential search committee, I say … Continue reading →

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