Our Team

Building 21 is run by a small group of individuals from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds.

Directors

Ollivier Dyens (PhD, Literature)
Founder & Co-Director
Ollivier Dyens is full professor in the Département des littératures de langue française, de traduction et de création. He is the author of 14 books. He was Deputy Provost, Student Life and Learning at McGill from 2013-2018. His area of research is the impact of technology on humanity.
ollivier.dyens@mcgill.ca

Staff

From coordinating partnerships to organizing programs, our staff work to create the conditions for an active scholar culture.

Alex Nicholas Chen
(Cognitive Science)
Program Lead
Isabella Chiaravallotti
(Plant Science)
Methodlological Advisor
Sophie Wu
(Digital Humanities)
Program Assistant
Nakiya Noorbhai
Program Assistant

Faculty Mentors

Our affiliated faculty graciously provide expertise, insight, and mentorship to Building 21 scholars.

Nikolas Provatas (Physics)
Professor
McGill Department of Physics; Canada Research Chair in Computational Materials Science
John Mac Master (Music Performance)
Associate Professor
Schulich School of Music
Jean-Baptiste Poline (Neuroinformatics)
Associate Professor
McGill Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery
Paule Joanne Toussaint (Neuroscience)
Senior Researcher
Montreal Neurological Institute

Past Staff

Our past staff played a pivotal role in building programs and shaping culture that continue to benefit B21 today.

Anita Parmar (PhD, Physics)
Co-Director
David 'Jhave' Johnston
Methodological Advisor
Carole Graveline
Communication Mentor
Jill Harrington
Intergenerational Leader
Viola H. Ruzzier
Program Assistant
Claudia Raihert
Program Assistant
Darius Valevicius
Program Assistant
Naomi Askenazi
Program Assistant
Tatiana Becerra
GPS Doctoral Intern
Kendra Oudyk
GPS Doctoral Intern
Aditya Jain
Sustainability Officer
Rebecca Brosseau
Brand & Strategy Manager
Damian Arteca
Researcher, Radical Futures

Past Volunteers

Volunteers have generously contributed their time and skills to B21 through their own initiative.

MingXi Gu
Web Design