Rhonda McEwen

Chair of Universities Canada’s education committee

Biography

Dr. Rhonda N. McEwen is the 14th President and Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto; Canada Research Chair in Tactile Interfaces, Communication and Cognition; a Professor of Emerging Media & Communication at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology; and has graduate faculty appointments at the: Department of Computer Science; Institute of the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology; and Faculty of Information – University of Toronto.

As a Chevening Scholar, Dr. McEwen graduated from City, University of London, England with an MBA in Information Technology Management (high honours).  She also earned a MSc in Telecommunications (summa cum laude) from the University of Colorado Boulder; and a PhD in Information from the University of Toronto. A world renowned researcher in human-machine communication, Dr. McEwen combines applied and behavioral science approaches with communication studies theory to examine the social and cognitive effects of technologies. Her pioneering approach to communication research employs experimental techniques, eye tracking, observations, sensor data and interviews to investigate emerging technology used by children and adults, including those diagnosed with communication and learning disorders.

Dr. McEwen has worked with and researched digital communications media for over 20 years, both in companies providing services, and in management consulting to those companies. Dr. McEwen’s research has appeared in CBC 60 Minutes, Nine 9 News Australia, CBC Radio, the Boston Globe, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail. She has over 47 publications, including the co-edited Sage Handbook of Human-Machine Communication (2023), and articles in Human-Robot Interaction Companion; Information, Communication & Society; Computers and Education; New Media and Society; and information science journals.