About Our President

Dr. Theresa Knott is the 7th President of Sir Sandford Fleming College

Dr. Theresa Knott is Fleming College’s Interim President, effective January 1, 2026. She has devoted her career to education, leadership, and inspiring others, with more than twenty-five years of post-secondary leadership experience across Canada and the United States.

Dr. Knott has held executive and senior academic roles at Humber College, Niagara College, California State University, Northridge, and Trocaire College in New York, before joining Fleming College in 2023. She brings extensive experience in academic administration across both public and private university and college environments.

She holds a PhD in Social Work from the University of Toronto and has served as a tenure-track faculty member at York University and as a tenured faculty member at California State University, Northridge.

In addition to her academic leadership, Dr. Knott has a robust clinical background, including practice as a clinician at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. She is a published author of peer‑reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and research reports, with expertise in areas such as child maltreatment epidemiology, foster care, racial disproportionality in child abuse and neglect, psychopharmacology of aggression, and trauma among professionals in paramedicine and firefighting.

A passionate educator, Dr. Knott has more than 15 years of teaching experience in university settings throughout Canada and the United States. Her service includes work as a doctoral supervisor, academic reviewer, and workshop facilitator on topics related to mental health and family services.

As Interim President of Fleming College, Dr. Knott is guiding the institution through significant sectoral disruption while protecting the access mission that is critical to the college sector.