New head of animation at Sheridan’s Oakville campus an ’empathetic’ leader

Sheridan College has a new Dean of the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design (FAAD) at its Oakville campus.

Mark Jones has been appointed to the position, effective Aug. 28.

Jones (pictured bel0w) arrives at Sheridan with over two decades of experience in the postsecondary sector, most recently as the Chair of the School of Creative Arts and Animation at Seneca Polytechnic for over 10 years.

In that role at Seneca, he established the college’s Film Institute as founding Director. Jones also helped grow enrolment, strengthen industry partnerships and support high student satisfaction.

He remains active as an executive producer/producer and exhibiting artist with installations at venues such as Nuit Blanch and the National Gallery of Canada.

Jones also extensively participated in the arts community serving on boards and committees from the Canada Council for the Arts, to founding board member of the Toronto Animation Arts Festival and by participating in a Toronto mayoral trade mission to India.

“Mark’s scholarship, creative practice and leadership have been consistently inflected by concerns for access, equity and social justice,” says Carol Altilia, Provost and Vice President, Academic at Sheridan. “He brings a demonstrated focus on inclusion with the extension of his own reflective learning at Northwestern University preparing him well to advance the ground-breaking work underway in FAAD.

“His reputation as an empathetic, collaborative leader precedes him, and I am thrilled to have his skills at Sheridan.”

Jones specialized in performance technology with a BA (Hon) from York University. He completed his graduate work at Toronto Metropolitan University in Communications and Culture.