Fiona Blaikie

Fiona Blaikie considers herself a life-long learner, and her new post as Dean of Education is only further proof of that.

The accomplished educator and 18-year veteran of Lakehead University’s Faculty of Education is ready for the new challenge of overseeing one of Brock’s largest and best-known Faculties. She became Dean on Aug. 1, and has spent the last two weeks meeting colleagues, hearing about programs and learning the rhythm of her new life in Niagara.

“The one word to sum up how I feel is excited,” she said.

Blaikie is used to new challenges. Born in South Africa to British parents, she grew up in South Africa and the United Kingdom. After teaching high school art and English, she moved to British Columbia to begin a Master’s degree at the University of Victoria.

While in B.C., she also worked at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria as an art educator. She moved on to do a PhD in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts in Education at the University of British Columbia, which led to a tenure-track position in Thunder Bay.

Her 18 years at Lakehead included a stint as director of Undergraduate Programs in Education at Lakehead’s Orillia campus and a term as chair of Graduate Studies and Research. She is currently concluding a term as president of the Canadian Society for Education through Art and previously was deputy chief examiner of visual arts for the International Baccalaureate Organization. She has written a book and contributed chapters to six others, and her accomplishments include dozens of refereed journal publications and presentations at conferences and workshops.

Blaikie plans to hold a retreat this academic year to look at the Faculty’s past and present and map out a vision for the future in line with Brock’s Strategic Plan. Brock’s Faculty of Education, she said, has “an incredibly high reputation.”

She has moved to a new home near the university with her husband (who is also a teacher) and two of their children – Nicholas, 15, and Sophie, 8. An avid lover of the arts, Blaikie writes and paints, and “we’ve already signed up to see several shows at the Shaw Festival this season,” she said.

Her learning continues in the family kitchen, where each Saturday she tackles a new recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. So far, dishes have included boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin.

As Dean, her goal is to establish a joint vision for the future, to nurture teaching, learning and research that will impact generations of new students and scholars.

“Our learning never ends,” she said. “It certainly doesn’t end for me.”