Kenneth Corts, an acclaimed economist with extensive academic leadership experience, has been named the University of Toronto's first vice-president, people, finance and digital services.
U of T's Governing Council approved the appointment this week for a five-year term running from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2031.
(photo by Eugene Grichko)
A professor of economic analysis and policy at the Rotman School of Management, Corts brings extensive divisional and institutional leadership experience to the newly created role, which consolidates human resources, labour relations, financial services and information technology under one roof.
President Melanie Woodin said Corts's track record of leading with transparency, collaboration and shared purpose made him ideally suited to the position.
"Professor Corts brings the skills, qualities and depth of experience that this role demands: deep institutional knowledge, a collaborative spirit and an economist's eye for complex co-ordination at a large and incredibly ambitious place," Woodin says.
"Having the University of Toronto's people, finance and technology functions working together - not just alongside each other - is essential to serve our community and advance U of T's academic and research mission in the years to come."
With more than two decades at U of T, Corts has accumulated deep knowledge about the university and its people. He served as Rotman's interim dean in 2020-2021 and gained broader, institution-wide experience as U of T's acting vice-president, operations in the fall of 2019. He has also built collaborative relationships across divisions as director of the Rotman Commerce program (jointly administered by Rotman and the Faculty of Arts & Science) and during stints as provostial adviser on student residences and academic lead, policy and sustainable finance at the Lawson Climate Institute.
"I've seen how strong institutional support can empower divisions to achieve their academic goals," says Corts. "When our talent, finances and technology are in sync, we're in a stronger position to provide that support."
Corts's appointment follows a restructuring approved by Governing Council earlier this year. The role he will occupy recognizes that decisions about people affect finances, financial systems shape how technology is deployed and technology, in turn, changes how people work.
For Corts, integrating these functions is an opportunity to rev up the "operational engine" that keeps one of the world's top-ranked research universities humming.
"These are the functions that we rely on every day - managing the people, resources and digital systems that make everything else possible," he says. "When they're working together, they underpin the teaching, research excellence and innovation that sets U of T apart."
Corts says his priorities centre on strengthening the university's foundations for the future - developing a workforce that drives the university forward, modernizing digital infrastructure and ensuring long-term financial sustainability. That includes delivering services that are more efficient, transparent and responsive to the needs of those who depend on them.
"I want everyone across the university to feel that these services are working for them, and helping them do their best work," he says. "That's the standard I'm holding us to."
In his new role, Corts will continue to collaborate closely with U of T's equity, diversity and inclusion offices, now overseen by the provost.
"The reach of this portfolio across the institution presents a unique opportunity to further embed U of T's culture of inclusion into everything we do."
A microeconomist by training, Corts holds the Desautels Chair in Entrepreneurship at the Rotman School and brings research expertise that underpins themes running throughout his portfolio, including industrial organization, competition policy and organizational economics.
After earning a PhD in economics from Princeton University, Corts spent time as a faculty member at Harvard Business School before joining U of T in 2003, and has published Harvard Business School case studies that are used at top business schools around the world.
He has held visiting appointments at the University of California, Los Angeles, INSEAD, the University of California, Berkeley and IESE Business School, served as the editor of the Journal of Industrial Economics from 2005 to 2010, and received grants and fellowships from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Beyond the academy, Corts has provided expert testimony in competition policy cases before the Competition Tribunal and the Ontario Superior Court, co-authored a policy analysis paper for the U.K. Office of Fair Trading and consulted on antitrust matters in the United States.
A career spent studying how organizations work has shaped how Corts thinks about the people who make them run - and the impact each has in a place like U of T.
"It's always been really important to me that all our staff, faculty and librarians see themselves as contributing to the mission of the university, so that everyone can be proud of what the university contributes to society."
