Office of the President The University of Western Ontario Dr. Bill Bridger, Vice-President (Research)

The Vice-President (Research) plays a leading role in fostering the development and sustaining the strength of research and scholarship in all disciplines at The University of Western Ontario. His portfolio includes Research Western, comprised of the Office of Industry Liaison, with responsibility for enhancement of university-industry collaboration, the Office of International Research, whose mandate extends to global research partnerships, and the Research Services Office that provides assistance to faculty in developing sources of funds to support research. The Vice-President (Research) is also responsible for Animal Care and Veterinary Services, as well as the policies and procedures that govern the conduct of research, including Research Ethics.

The Office of the Vice-President (Research) is also responsible for the planning and coordination and all of Western’s institutional research initiatives, including those seeking support from the infrastructure programs provided by the federal and provincial governments (Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario R&D Challenge Fund). The Vice-President (Research) represents the University on various national and provincial councils and boards that have a research mandate.

Dr. Bill Bridger joined The University of Western Ontario as Vice-President (Research) in January, 1996. His previous appointment was at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He was born in 1941 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and received both his undergraduate and graduate training in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Manitoba. Following postdoctoral research at the Fox Chase Cancer Institute (Philadelphia) and the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA, Dr. Bridger joined the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Alberta in 1968. He was made a full Professor in 1977, and served as Chair of the Department of Biochemistry from 1987 to 1993. From then until his appointment at Western, he joined the central administration of the University of Alberta as Associate Vice-President (Research). Dr. Bridger completed a fifteen-month study leave in the Laboratory of Cell Biology at the Rockefeller University in New York City (1984-85).

Dr. Bridger’s own research is concerned with the structure and function of enzymes and other proteins. He continues to participate in his research with his group, whose work makes combined use of the tools of molecular biology and protein crystallography. He has won numerous awards for his research, including the Ayerst Award of the Canadian Biochemical Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1989. His scientific bibliography includes over eighty papers in refereed journals and one book (Cell ATP). He has served as both Secretary and President of the Canadian Biochemical Society, and served for many years on both the Board and Executive of the Canadian Federation of Biological Societies.