Royal Roads University names new president

Royal Roads University has selected a new president, one with an extensive background that combines government service, nonprofit work and post-secondary education.

Philip Steenkamp, most recently vicepresident of external relations at the University of B.C. and Simon Fraser University, has been named Royal Roads president and vicechancellor. His five-year term begins Jan. 1, when he takes over from Allan Cahoon, who has been president and vice-chancellor for 11 years.

Steenkamp, 56, has also served as a B.C. deputy minister from 1997 to 2011 in the ministries of aboriginal affairs, tourism, culture, economic development and advanced education.

Steenkamp has also served on the boards of the Dr. Peter Aids Foundation, Immigrant Employment Council of B.C. and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.

In an interview, Steenkamp said he sees Royal Roads, with its distance education interspersed with in-person sessions including short residential stints, as an ideal way to address education needs in the digital age.

He has been impressed with the way Royal Roads puts together interdisciplinary courses to meet modern needs.

“Obviously, we all need more and more data literacy, but we also need to think in terms of systems,” he said. “So many things are inter-connected now.”

Steenkamp was born in Botswana and earned a bachelor of arts from the University of Natal, Durban. He earned his masters and PhD both in history from Queen’s University in Ontario.