The University of British Columbia has appointed its thirteenth president and vice chancellor.

Already a professor of computer science at UBC and expert in research and innovation policy, Arvind Gupta will take the president’s chair July 1.

Gupta succeeds Stephen Toope who has held the reins at the university’s top job for the last eight years.

“The opportunity to lead one of the world’s great universities attracted outstanding candidates, but Dr. Arvind Gupta clearly stood out as the best choice to lead this great university,” said UBC Board of Governors Chair John Montalbano in a release.

“The Board will provide its full support to Dr. Gupta as he guides UBC in its pursuit of excellence, so that we may better serve the people of British Columbia, Canada and the world.”

Gupta’s initial term will be five years and he will also continue on as a professor of computer science – a position he has held since 2009.

“As a member of the UBC community, I know how great a responsibility and honour this is,” said Gupta in a statement. “I have the privilege of taking the baton from Professor Toope who has guided UBC to a strong position. We have exciting days ahead and I relish the opportunity.”

CEO and scientific director of Mitacs, a national organization with headquarters at UBC, Gupta is a renowned expert in nurturing the next generation of research and business-savvy innovator, according to the release.

Gupta earned a PhD from the University of Toronto in 1991. He sits on a number of boards, including the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, the Banff International Research Station, the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute, the Canadian Mining Innovation Council, Mprime Network and Mitacs, as well as serving on the International Scientific Advisory Board of GRAND-NCE, a federally funded body exploring the applications of digital media.

UBC is B.C.'s largest university with more than 58,000 students and 15,000 faculty and staff with an annual budget of $2.2 billion.