KOKOMO, Ind. — Mark Canada will be formally installed as Indiana University Kokomo’s eighth chancellor in a ceremony at 1 p.m. Friday, October 21.
IU President Pamela Whitten will preside over the ceremony, in Havens Auditorium.
“I deeply appreciate all the support from Indiana University, as well as my family and friends, but this ceremony is about more than me,” said Canada. “It’s an opportunity for all of us to come together around the future of IU Kokomo.”
The celebration will include remarks by representatives of several IU Kokomo constituencies. They include Commissioner Paul Wyman, representing the community; Robert Hayes, IU Kokomo Board of Advisors member, for the campus; Eva R. White, chair and professor of English, faculty; April Evans, director of human resources and payroll, staff; Mary Hogsett, student government association president, students; and Alex Martakis, Class of 2021, alumni.
Student Logan Brittain will lead singing of the National Anthem and “Hail to Old IU.”
Susan Sciame-Giesecke, vice president for regional campuses and online education, will assist Whitten in the installation.
Canada became chancellor on August 15, after serving as deputy chancellor since 2021, and as executive vice chancellor for academic affairs beginning in 2015.
Chancellor Canada led efforts to launch the IU Kokomo Experience and You, or KEY, the campus’s signature program of high-impact practices and other transformative learning experiences. Those include travel, internships, retreats, simulations, research and community projects, and other opportunities to enrich college life.
Canada has an extensive background in higher education. Prior to his positions at IU Kokomo, he was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where he had also been acting dean; associate dean; chair of the Department of English, Theatre and Foreign Languages and a professor of English.
In addition, Canada has published and presented extensively, not only in scholarly presses and academic journals, but also through Audible books, the mainstream media and public lectures for the IU Alumni Association. He’s written and presented on a variety of topics, including student success and learning; journalism; information literacy; and the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, Ben Franklin and more.
A longtime advocate for student success, Canada has been a leading participant in the national Re-Imagining the First Year project sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). He also specializes in information literacy and lifelong learning. In 2021, AASCU awarded him the William M. Plater Award for Leadership in Civic Engagement. Canada has also been a member of the Nexel Advisory Committee, the president of the Thomas Wolfe Society and a member of the steering committee for the North Central Indiana Regional Planning Council READI grant proposal.
A native of Indianapolis, Canada has a bachelor’s degree in English from Indiana University and a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Canada lives in Kokomo with his wife, Lisa. They have two grown children, Esprit and Will.
Education is KEY at Indiana University Kokomo.
