A highly respected exercise physiologist has been chosen as the new dean of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Physical Education and Health.
Professor Ira Jacobs, chair of York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science, will join U of T July 1. Academic Board approved his five year decanal term this week.
The new dean succeeds Professor Bruce Kidd, a Canadian Olympian and expert on Olympic history who will step down June 30 after the longest record of service among University of Toronto deans. The torch Kidd passes to Jacobs will include responsibility for continuing the efforts to strengthen undergraduate and graduate degree programs and to create synergies between co-curricular programs and high performance sport in ways that benefit all parties.
“Professor Jacobs joins the Faculty of Physical Education and Health during an exciting time of growth and change,” said Professor Cheryl Misak, vice-president and provost. “I am confident that he will provide excellent leadership and I am delighted to welcome him to U of T.”
Jacobs earned his doctorate in clinical physiology from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute where he specialized in skeletal muscle metabolism. For the next 25 years, he did extensive exercise physiology research while working for the government’s human performance laboratory, operated by the Department of National Defence. He attained the position of chief scientist there and received recognition for initiating and leading a unique international research group that helped enhance the performance of military special operations units through their research and advice about nutritional and pharmacological strategies.
In 2007, Jacobs became chair of York’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science, the largest kinesiology program in North America. He is currently president of the Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators and a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, as well as a past president of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology.
Jacobs’ research has led to the publication of more than 200 scientific articles, reports and book chapters about his research interests that include the physiological responses to physical exertion in environmental extremes, performance enhancement through pharmacological and nutritional manipulation of metabolism, and energy metabolism.
“As both a scientist and academic administrator, I am thrilled to join the University of Toronto, an institution renowned for the quality of its faculty and its research,” said Jacobs. “It is particularly exciting to do so at a time when both public awareness and researchers from a broad spectrum of disciplines acknowledge the tremendously important biological, behavioural, and socio-cultural impacts of physical activity, physical inactivity, sports and athletics. I look forward to making a contribution to the tradition of excellence here.”
-Elaine Smith