Professor Nicholas Terpstra Appointed Interim Principal at St. Michael’s 

Professor Nicholas Terpstra Appointed Interim Principal at St. Michael’s 

Dr. Nicholas Terpstra has been appointed Interim Principal of St. Michael’s College effective July 1, 2022. A distinguished scholar of the Renaissance period, Terpstra is a Professor of History at the University of Toronto who has previously served as chair of both the departments of History and Italian Studies.  He will hold the position while the President and the Principal’s Search Committee conclude their work in the appointment of the next Principal of the College. 

Terpstra, whose research examines the intersection of politics, religion, gender, and charity in Renaissance Italy, has taught at the University of Toronto since 1998. His current research is focused on two main areas: a digital mapping project based around Renaissance Florence, and a study of of how different social, cultural, and religious groups used spatial and sensory boundaries to navigate their relations with each other in 16th-century Tuscany.

“We are delighted to welcome Nick Terpstra to Odette Hall,” says St. Michael’s President David Sylvester. “He is an internationally recognized scholar, a seasoned administrator, and a wonderful colleague known to many here at St. Mike’s.”   

In 2017, he received an honorary Doctor of Sacred Letters degree from Regis College.  

Terpstra will take on the interim post as Professor Mark McGowan completes a two-year appointment in the position this month.  

McGowan, who was previously St. Michael’s Principal from 2002 to 2011, will be on research leave from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. He will continue to serve as Senior Advisor to the President, Catholic Education, and will return to Celtic Studies and the History Department following his leave. 

Dr. Nicholas Terpstra, smiling
Dr. Nicholas Terpstra