As Northeastern’s regional campus network expands, two new deans named

Northeastern University’s growing global footprint includes its flagship campus in Boston and regional campuses in Charlotte, North Carolina, Seattle, Silicon Valley, and Toronto. Now, the university has announced new leaders at two of these campuses that bring global, distinguished, and multidimensional professional backgrounds to the critical role of leading their respective campuses.

John LaBrie, currently dean of the College of Professional Studies and vice president for professional education at Northeastern, will become the first regional dean and founding principal of the Toronto campus; and Scott McKinley, who has held leadership positions across the financial services and higher education fields throughout the U.S., Asia, and Europe, will assume the role of regional dean of the Seattle campus. McKinley replaces Tayloe Washburn, who has served as dean since the Seattle campus launched in 2012.

LaBrie has led growth in enrollment, tripled the size of the full-time faculty, created new degrees such as the Master of Arts in Homeland Security, and raised more than $10 million for the Lowell Institute School, a STEM bachelor’s degree completion program preparing students for the innovation economy. LaBrie oversees NU Global, a unique group of international and U.S.-based programs for international students to study at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Prior to joining CPS, LaBrie served as dean of continuing studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he led the largest continuing education university program in western Canada. He also holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada; his father is Canadian.

The initial program portfolio in Ontario will focus on fields in high demand from employers in the region, with master’s degree programs in project management; information assurance; and regulatory affairs for drugs, biologics, and medical devices.

For his part, McKinley’s vast professional experience includes developing and leading innovative and disruptive strategies for postsecondary education.

McKinley is currently a strategic advisor at Cisco Systems, where he led the strategic industry engagement and development of a post-graduate IT education program targeted primarily to post-graduates. He is also the co-founder and former CEO of Neumont University in Utah, which provides specialized, accelerated degree programs in computer science in collaboration with industry partners such as IBM and Microsoft.

McKinley also has extensive global work experience, which includes serving as senior vice president for Laureate Education—a network of campus-based and online universities for students worldwide—from 2006 to 2011, a role in which he was responsible for international business development particularly in the Asia Pacific region. He also founded and managed JP Morgan Partners’ Asia Pacific operations from 1993 to 1998.

Northeastern’s regional campuses offer professional graduate programs that are industry-aligned and tailored to meet the specific needs of learners and employers in the region. The goal is for these campuses to increasingly become an interconnected network that link students and faculty to new learning and research opportunities.

Northeastern University’s growing global footprint includes its flagship campus in Boston and regional campuses in Charlotte, North Carolina, Seattle, Silicon Valley, and Toronto. Graphic by Greg Grinnell/Northeastern University

Northeastern University’s growing global footprint includes its flagship campus in Boston and regional campuses in Charlotte, North Carolina, Seattle, Silicon Valley, and Toronto. Graphic by Greg Grinnell/Northeastern University