David Docherty, PhD

David Docherty, PhD, became Mount Royal University’s ninth President on Aug. 1, 2011. An accomplished academic, author and administrator, Docherty comes to Mount Royal from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON, where he served as Senior Advisor on Multi-Campus Initiatives in the Office of the Vice-President: Academic and Provost. Before that, he was Dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Arts.

A recognized expert on parliamentary democracy in Canada, Docherty has been instrumental in developing new undergraduate and graduate programs at Laurier — an institution with a strong reputation for undergraduate education. In 2005, Docherty was named the Faculty of Arts Teaching Scholar at Laurier. In addition to recognizing teaching excellence, this annual award affirms the importance of teaching by honouring a faculty member who integrates both scholarly research and teaching.

Docherty’s appointment as President is one more exciting milestone for Mount Royal as we celebrate our centennial. With his demonstrated commitment to excellence in and out of the classroom, Docherty will lead the University into our second century and further Mount Royal’s aspiration to be Canada’s premier undergraduate university on every measure of student success and satisfaction.

Docherty obtained his Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, ON in 1984. He was the first Laurier graduate to serve as a legislative intern in the Ontario Legislature, where he served in different capacities until 1988. He obtained his Master of Arts degree in political science from McMaster University in 1990 and his PhD in political science from the University of Toronto in 1995.

A faculty member in Laurier’s Political Science Department since 1994, Docherty became Chair of the department in 2001. In 2005, he was appointed Dean of Arts, the first Laurier alumnus to be appointed in that position. Under Docherty’s leadership, Laurier’s Faculty of Arts was awarded a NAFTA mobility grant, which is facilitating new program growth in North American Studies and building strong faculty and student ties with partner universities. He was also a lead on the Laurier and University of Waterloo team that was awarded the 2012 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Canada’s largest conference of academics.

The author of two books and numerous articles on Canadian politics, Docherty has been a frequent commentator on regional and national radio, and his analyses of provincial and national politics are regularly cited in leading Canadian newspapers.