As the Vice-Provost, Academic Programs, Professor Nicholas Rule leads the University’s Quality Assurance Process for undergraduate and graduate programs, working closely with all U of T Faculties and schools and with other post-secondary institutions. He is the contact person in the Provost’s Office for divisional academic planning, cross-Faculty interdisciplinary initiatives and University-wide academic policy matters.

Professor Rule has served the University in various administrative roles, including Chair of the Department of Psychology; Interim Vice-Dean, Undergraduate in the Faculty of Arts & Science; and as Vice-Principal (Academic) & Dean at the University of Toronto Mississauga. As former Provostial Advisor and Chair of the University’s Resilience Project Team, Prof. Rule helped to support academic and business continuity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to secure a safe return to our campuses for students, faculty and staff.

Prof. Rule earned an AB at Dartmouth College, and MS and PhD degrees at Tufts University. His research has shaped the field of social perception, cognition and behaviour, with more than 160 highly cited peer-reviewed articles and papers and almost $4M in research funding. He has supported the professional development of more than 250 undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral research trainees. His research continues to earn recognition on the world stage with recognitions and awards from the Royal Society of Canada, International Social Cognition Network, International Academy for Intercultural Research, Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology and elsewhere.