R. Peter MacKinnon, (born 1947) is a Canadian lawyer and legal academic. MacKinnon served as the president of the University of Saskatchewan from 1999 to 2012. On 1 July 2014, he was named as the interim president of

Athabasca University Athabasca University (AU) is a Canadian public research university that primarily operates through online distance education. Founded in 1970, it is one of four comprehensive academic and research universities in Alberta, and was the first ...

. On 15 January 2019, MacKinnon started serving as interim president of

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

upon the resignation of

Richard Florizone Richard Florizone (born 1967) is a Canadian academic and physicist who served as the 11th president of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Biography R. Florizone was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in 1967. He attended the Univer ...

and served until the announcement of the next president,

Deep Saini Hargurdeep Saini ( Punjabi: ਹਰਗੁਰਦੀਪ ਸੈਣੀ), also known as Deep Saini, is a scientist, current President and Vice-Chancellor of Dalhousie University and incoming Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. Caree ...

Biography

Born in Prince Edward Island, he received a BA from

, an

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

and a LL.M from the University of Saskatchewan. He is a member of the

Ontario Bar The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; f ...

and

Saskatchewan Bar Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dako ...

. He was created a Queen's Counsel in 1990. He is married to

Janice MacKinnon Dr. Janice MacKinnon, Ph.D, C.M., S.O.M., FRSC (born January 30, 1947) is a Canadian historian and former Minister of Finance for the Province of Saskatchewan under NDP Premier Roy Romanow. She is currently a professor in the Department of Hi ...

, a Canadian historian and former minister of finance for the Province of Saskatchewan. They have two children, Alan and William. In 1975, he joined the faculty of the University of Saskatchewan as an assistant professor of law. He became an associate professor in 1978 and a professor in 1983. He served as chair of the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association from 1983–84. From 1979 to 1981, he was the assistant dean of law and was the dean of law from 1988 to 1998. In 1999, he was appointed the eighth president of the University of Saskatchewan. On March 9, MacKinnon announced that he would be stepping down as president of the University of Saskatchewan, effective June 30, 2012. He is succeeded by Ilene Busch-Vishniac, former provost and vice-president (academic) at McMaster University. From 2003 to 2005, he was the chairman of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, the organization representing Canada's universities. In 2006, it was reported that he was one of three "short list" candidates to be recommended to be appointed to the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

replacing the retired justice

John C. Major John Charles "Jack" Major (born February 20, 1931) is a Canadian jurist and was a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1992 to 2005. Early life and education Born in Mattawa, Ontario, Major received a Bachelor of Commerce degree f ...

. In 2011, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions to education and for his commitment to innovation and research excellence". In 2012, the Board of Governors of the University of Saskatchewan renamed the College Building the Peter MacKinnon Building.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackinnon, Peter Living people Lawyers in Saskatchewan Canadian King's Counsel Canadian legal scholars Presidents of the University of Saskatchewan Canadian university and college faculty deans Officers of the Order of Canada People from Prince Edward Island Canadian people of Scottish descent University of Saskatchewan alumni Dalhousie University alumni Queen's University at Kingston alumni Presidents of Athabasca University 1947 births Canadian university and college chief executives University of Saskatchewan College of Law alumni