In November 2021, UBC announced that it is expanding its presence south of the Fraser River with the purchase of a 135,000-square-foot property in Surrey, at the intersection of King George Boulevard and Fraser Highway. Today, we are marking another step in expanding UBC’s regional presence. I am pleased to announce that Dr. Robert W. Helsley has joined the Provost’s leadership team as Associate Provost at the head of the UBC at Surrey project.
Dr. Helsley is the Grosvenor Professor of Cities, Business Economics and Public Policy in the UBC Sauder School of Business. He has published widely in the areas of urban and public economics, real estate and public policy and previously served as Director of the Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate at UBC and the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at UC Berkeley. He served as Dean of the UBC Sauder School of Business from 2012 to 2022.
Building on partnerships within Surrey and across the region, Dr. Helsley will provide leadership in the planning and programming of the University’s academic and support facilities for the Surrey site in partnership with Faculties from UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan, as well as UBC Properties Trust. As the project lead, he will lead the planning to integrate academic programming and shared community interests into the overall site development, through UBC partnerships, and community, post-secondary, and Indigenous engagement.
Dr. Helsley’s appointment is for a two-year term, starting October 1, 2022, in addition to his role as Professor in Sauder.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Helsley into his new role.
Gage Averill
Provost and Vice-President, Academic, pro tem, UBC Vancouver