Laurier appoints new dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts

Oct. 22, 2021

Janny Leung has been appointed Laurier’s new dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts for a five-year term, beginning July 1, 2022.

Leung brings international education and teaching experience to her new role and currently serves as head of the School of English at the University of Hong Kong, where she is also a professor of linguistics. Prior to this role, she was the associate dean of teaching and learning in the Faculty of Arts in the same university. An academic with numerous visiting and honorary appointments, she was awarded the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship from the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong for 2021-2022. She also brings experience from the National Humanities Center, Harvard Yenching Institute and the Central China Normal University.

“I am thrilled and honoured to have the opportunity to lead the Faculty of Liberal Arts in the third decade of Laurier's Brantford campus,” says Leung. "The intellectual breadth and depth of the faculty have impressed me, as have the curiosity and thoughtfulness of the students, and the sense of community that Laurier has cultivated. I look forward to learning from and working closely with our staff, students, faculty, and community partners. There will be plenty of work to do as we embrace opportunities and challenges in higher education, but, having met many of you, I am excited to be doing it for you and with you.”

Leung has proven to be dedicated to service both on a faculty and university-wide scale, with roles on committees focused on curriculum development, teaching and learning quality, and admissions, among many others. Her forthcoming book, currently under preparation, is titled Private Regulation of Global Public Speech: Multilingualism and Other Linguistic Challenges. This will mark her fourth book since 2016. She also presented “Language and Social Justice” as part of the PARLAY conference earlier this year at the University of York, U.K.

Leung’s education spans the globe. In addition to earning a PhD from the University of Cambridge in Psycholinguistics, she also has a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London and a Master of Laws from Yale Law School. Her widespread knowledge is reflected in the many courses she’s taught to date, including Language and the Law and the Semantics and Pragmatics of English.