The Faculty of Arts & Science is pleased to announce that Dr. Trushar Patel will join the Dean’s Office on August 1st for a one-year term as Associate Dean. Trushar will serve in the Student Issues, Faculty Issues, Internationalization, Space and Outreach portfolios.

Trushar joined the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at the University of Lethbridge in 2016.  He secured a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in RNA and Protein Biophysics in 2017. In recognition of his early career success, he was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. Trushar is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) and the winner of early investigator awards this year from both the Canadian Society of Molecular Biosciences and the Biophysical Society of Canada.

Recognized for his dedication to fostering student excellence and his commitment to giving freely of his time to help the community as co-chair of the Return-to-Campus Committee, Trushar was recently presented with the 2022 University of Lethbridge Volunteer Award. As co-chair, he coordinated with virtually every unit on campus, made himself available to answer all questions, dispelled myths on social media and led decisions based on scientific information. Trushar was also the University of Lethbridge representative for the Science Meets Parliament Program.

Trushar is deeply committed to the mission and vision of the Faculty of Arts & Science and the University of Lethbridge, whether through his passion for experiential learning, his promotion of research excellence, his contributions to internationalization or his leadership on pandemic safety and return-to-campus. We are delighted to have Trushar join the Dean’s Office team in 2022-23. ~ Dean Matt Letts

Trushar holds BSc and MSc degrees in biotechnology from Sardar Patel University, India. He completed his PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK, studying solution structure and interactions of plant polysaccharides. Before arriving at the University of Lethbridge, he held postdoctoral fellow and research associate positions at the University of Manitoba, as well as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship at the University of Birmingham, UK.

As I did during the U of L COVID19 relaunching exercise, I am committed to working with students, faculty, and staff from various units and helping them achieve their goals. I am nervous but excited to work with colleagues from the Faculty of Arts & Science, as well as from other faculties and schools. Your support and constructive criticism would be very helpful during this journey. ~ Dr. Trushar Patel