| Deep Saini | |||||||||||||||
| Honorific Suffix: | FRSN | ||||||||||||||
| Native Name: | ਹਰਗੁਰਦੀਪ ਸੈਣੀ | ||||||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | Punjabi | ||||||||||||||
| 18th President and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University | |||||||||||||||
| Term Start: | April 1, 2023 | ||||||||||||||
| Chancellor: | John McCall MacBain | ||||||||||||||
| Predecessor: | Suzanne Fortier | ||||||||||||||
| Title1: | 12th President and Vice-Chancellor of Dalhousie University | ||||||||||||||
| Term Start1: | January 1, 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Term End1: | December 31, 2023 | ||||||||||||||
| Chancellor1: | Rustum Southwell | ||||||||||||||
| Predecessor1: | Richard Florizone Peter MacKinnon (interim) | ||||||||||||||
| Successor1: | Kim Brooks | ||||||||||||||
| Title2: | 5th President and Vice-Chancellor of University of Canberra | ||||||||||||||
| Term Start2: | September 1, 2016 | ||||||||||||||
| Term End2: | December 24, 2019 | ||||||||||||||
| Predecessor2: | Stephen Parker | ||||||||||||||
| Successor2: | Paddy Nixon | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Hagurdeep Saini | ||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | President and Vice-Chancellor, McGill University | ||||||||||||||
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Hargurdeep Saini (Punjabi: ਹਰਗੁਰਦੀਪ ਸੈਣੀ) is an Indian-Canadian scientist and university administrator.[1] He is the President and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University in Montreal.[2] He previously served as President of Dalhousie University as well as further administrative positions at Canadian and Australian universities.
Saini was born to a family hailing from Nawanshahr in Punjab, India, where he grew up. He completed his Bachelor of Science (Honours) and Master of Science (Honours) in Botany from Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana.[3] He then moved to Australia, where he earned his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from the University of Adelaide, followed by a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Alberta in Canada.[4]
Saini began his academic career at the Université de Montréal, where he spent 18 years as a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, later serving as the director general of the Institut de recherche en biologie végétale (Plant Biology Research Institute) from 1996-2001.[5]
He was previously the President and Vice-Chancellor of Dalhousie University,[6] a Vice-Chancellor and President of University of Canberra, a vice-president of University of Toronto, and principal of the university's Mississauga campus, and dean of the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario.[7] [8] During his time as principal of UTM and vice-president of the University of Toronto, Saini oversaw the expansion of program offerings and several multi-million-dollar construction projects on the UTM campus, notably the development and launch of UTM’s medical school, the Mississauga Academy of Medicine.[9]
On 14 November 2022, it was announced that Saini would step down from his role as president of Dalhousie, effective 31 December 2022,[6] to become Principal (now known as 'President' since December 2023) and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University.[10] In response to French-language geared legislation by the provincial government, he stated that he would consider potentially moving some McGill operations out of Quebec for the first time since its founding about 200 years prior.[11]
See also: McGill University pro-Palestinian encampment. During an early test of his presidency, McGill saw protest encampments established on the campus during the Hamas-Israeli conflict of 2023-24, which Saini denounced.[12] Three days after the encampment, Saini called upon the police to break up the protest, however the police told him that no crime was being committed. He also called upon the court system to disperse the encampment, and was again told that this would be inappropriate.[13] About this time, a professor at the school stated of Saini that the faculty was "strongly opposed to our university administration's relentless campaign against the students."[14]
The Globe and Mail reported that as of the end of May 2024, Saini continued to push the law enforcement to try and intervene despite them informing him that nothing illegal was occurring.[15] During this time at his previously university, University Affairs wrote that in comparison the president that had come after him (Kim Brooks) had instead decided to take a conciliatory approach and not involve law enforcement at all in response to similar protests on her campus, citing her respect for peaceful protest.[16] Saini, alternatively, accused protest of being antisemetic, though Jewish students, as well as Independent Jewish Voices, dismissed the accusation as part of a smear campaign against the encampment, citing that there are Jewish students playing a key role in the protest encampment.[17]
On 6 June 2024, Saini requested police intervention to clear the protest occurring in the James administration building.[18] Riot police pepper sprayed, tear-gassed, and used batons and shields against students protesting around the building.[19] [20] 15 student arrests were made for their role in the protest.[21] Saini later thanked the police for their intervention in clearing out the protest.[22] However, in July 2024 The Breach wrote that Saini supported his position that led to the police violence by peppering his statements to the press with misinformation, planting false stories that students called for violence and had prevented administrators from leaving the building.[23]