Mount Allison University has announced its new interim president and vice-chancellor.

Longtime professor and academic Dr. Robert MacKinnon will step into the role after spending 32 years in the post-secondary education field.

Mackinnon returns to Mount A as an alumnus from the class of 1978. He began his career at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia and has spent the last 20 years as a professor of geography, Dean of Arts, and vice president at the University of New Brunswick.

“I am grateful to be returning to where it all started for me at Mount Allison to help lead them through this transition year,” said MacKinnon in a news release.

The university’s former president Jean-Paul Boudreau finished his term at the end of June.

MacKinnon will officially begin his year-long term as interim president on September 1, just as thousands of students descend on campus for the start of the fall semester.