About Joy Johnson, SFU's next president

Professor Joy Johnson is the vice-president, research and international at SFU, a role she has held since 2014. Under her strong leadership, SFU’s research income has grown from $103 million in 2014 to $161 million today, making it the fastest growing research income of any university in Canada. Highlights of her many achievements in this role include enhancing supports and services for SFU’s research community, securing two Canada 150 Chairs, hosting Canada’s most powerful academic supercomputer, launching the cross-cutting big data initiative, and establishing a unifying innovation strategy. These activities and accomplishments are underpinned by Professor Johnson’s dedication to operational excellence, aligning policy and structure to goals to achieve success. She leads SFU’s equity, diversity and inclusion initiative.

Professor Johnson is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Before joining SFU, Professor Johnson had an impressive career in academics and research, completing her PhD in Nursing at the University of Alberta before joining the University of British Columbia as a professor in the School of Nursing. Her inter- and multi-disciplinary research focused on how environments and social dynamics influence health outcomes and opportunities, particularly in youth. This commitment to research led her to take on the role of scientific director with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Gender and Health, setting the institute’s strategy and building opportunities for researchers. She is the co-author of more than 180 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has led several initiatives that mobilized research insights to influence practice and policy.