Dr. Jim Weese
Dr. Jim Weese is the former Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences (2004-2015) at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. He has also served as the Special Advisor to the Provost and on two occasions, as the Acting Vice-Provost (International) at Western. He also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor before moving to Western in 2004.
He teaches, consults, and conducts research and delivers speeches to local, national, and international audiences on the topic of leadership. He is recognized as a transformational academic leader and a leading authority in the area whose research papers appear in the top journals in his field. He recently served as the Founding Executive Director of the Western Leader Academy; an intensive leadership development program designed to develop future academic leaders.
He has engaged and informed audiences across many sectors on the merits of a team approach to leadership. His acclaimed the 5C leader: Exceptional Leadership Practices for Extraordinary Times book has been embraced by academic and practitioner audiences and has led to invited speeches for universities, corporations, and service clubs throughout the world. He recently published The Leadership Lifecycle: How to Prepare, How to Excel, and How (and when) to Effectively Exit as well as a children’s leadership book entitled: The Grandpa Rules: Essential Lesson for Success in Life and Leadership. The children’s leadership book is now published in six languages.
He has earned several academic and leadership awards throughout his distinguished career, including the top research and leadership awards from his profession, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal by the Government of Canada in 2002 for his academic leadership and ten years later, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition for his leadership and advocacy for exercise and physical activity. His accomplishments have earned him some of his professional association's most prestigious teaching and research awards. For example, the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) awarded him a Research Fellowship the first year that the award was offered. NASSM has also honoured him with their three most prestigious honours: the Dr. Earle F. Zeigler Award in 2001, the Dr. Garth Paton Distinguished Service Award in 2015, and the Distinguished Sport Management Educator Award in 2022. He is one of only three scholars to receive all four of these awards/honours, and to date, the only Canadian to hold that distinction.
While his teaching and research record warrants high praise, his academic leadership and service to higher education distinguish him even further. He is heralded as a transformative academic leader. He has served in several senior leadership positions during his career, including the President of the North American Society for Sport Management and the National Deans Councils for both Kinesiology (CCUPEKA) and the Health Sciences Deans (CAHSD). He has been an active volunteer and Board member with organizations like the United Way, The YMCA of Southwestern Ontario, See the Line, Play On, Give and Go Sports Education, and the Sunningdale Golf and Country Club. In 2010, Weese worked with the Men’s and Women’s Olympic Hockey Teams at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada. He currently serves as the Government of Canada Representative and the Chair of the Legacy Fund Allocation Committee for the surplus/investment funds following Canada’s hosting of the 2015 Pan Am Games.
In 2014, his alma mater, the University of Windsor, inducted him into its Sports Hall of Fame. In 2023, the University of Windsor Alumni Association awarded him their top honour, the Alumni Award of Merit.
Dr. Weese lives in London with his wife, Sherri. His passions include golf, hockey, guitar, and gardening.
