Dr. Jennifer Lokash, Provost and Vice-President (Academic) pro tempore
The provost and vice-president (academic) is the chief academic officer of Memorial University, responsible for overseeing all academic matters and ensuring that the university’s planning and budgets align with Memorial’s academic and strategic priorities.
The provost reports directly to the president, is a voting member of the university’s Board of Regents, and is deputy chair of the university Senate.
The provost oversees the portfolio of the vice provost (equity, diversity, and inclusion), as well as the portfolios of the associate vice-presidents (academic) for students and graduate studies.
Jennifer Lokash has been a faculty member in the Department of English since 2004.
This past May, she completed an eight-year term as Head of her department, during which she oversaw the administration of programs in English, Communication Studies, Film Studies, Creative Writing, and Stage and Screen Technique. For five of those years, she was the Director of the SPARKS Literary Festival, and she currently serves as Memorial’s Public Orator.
She chaired, for more than three years, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Planning and Research Committee, and she has pan-university experience as a Senator and on numerous committees, including several years of service on the Senate Committee on Academic Appeals and the University Committee on Special Admissions.
In late 2019, she was appointed as a representative for the University on the Joint Gender Equity Salary Readjustment Committee, and this important work was recognized by CAUT with the 2022 Sarah Shorten Award for outstanding achievements in the promotion of the advancement of women in Canadian universities and colleges. Her broad research and teaching interests are in literature, the environment, and the body, and in critical theories of art.
Dr. Lokash was appointed interim associate vice-president (academic) in fall 2022 and provost and vice-president (academic) pro tempore in March 2023. She looks forward to continuing in this leadership role to support the core academic mission of the university, and foster an environment in which students and instructors can thrive.