Kevin Kee is Dean of the Faculty of Arts and a Professor at the University of Ottawa.

He started his academic career at McGill University, where he served as Assistant Professor, and Director of Undergraduate Programs (Department of Integrated Studies in Education). He has also served as Project Director and Director at the National Film Board of Canada, and Associate Vice-President Research (Social Sciences and Humanities) at Brock University, where he held a Canada Research Chair.

Since his appointment as Dean in 2015, the Faculty of Arts has opened new buildings and spaces, (LabO, a $10 million theatre and learning space, in partnership with the City of Ottawa; Atelier Cofab, a new digital creation environment; The Living Lab, a children’s cognitive development and language acquisition lab, in partnership with the Canada Museum of Science and Technology), strengthened teaching programs (including in Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Social Innovation), increased research funding and impact, and expanded support for students.

He is also serving as international champion of one of the thirteen declared initiatives of the U7 + Alliance of World Universities, and is developing an agenda for action for adoption by the member institutions. In addition, he is Chairing the President’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health and Wellness at the University of Ottawa.

He has responded to questions about how universities and their graduates can drive society forward by integrating that which has been kept separate: cultural understanding, technological skills, and entrepreneurial literacy. At his previous institution he helped create and lead an interactive new media business incubator (the Niagara Interactive Media Generator, now the Generator at One, and Innovate Niagara) and launched a corporation to train budding interactive media entrepreneurs.

A digital humanist and historian, Kee helped build a new field of inquiry in computer simulations for history learning, with special emphasis on university to public- and private-sector technology transfers and partnerships.  Many of his research projects led to the development of simulations, computer games, Web sites and smartphone apps. He has published books and articles on the use of emerging computer technologies for history and history teaching and learning, and on Canadian cultural history. He has been honoured with awards and prizes for his research, teaching and leadership, including an Ontario Early Researcher Award, the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association Prize, and a Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.