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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Tim McTiernan
PhD

Adjunct Professor

Faculty of Social Science and Humanities

Contact information

Background

Dr. McTiernan received his PhD in Psychology from the University of British Columbia in 1982. His major area of research in social psychology was on stereotyping processes. He also researched environmental attitudes and quantitative and qualitative-based data collection in diverse community settings. He joined Ontario Tech University from the University of Toronto. Prior to that he was:

  • Chief Operating Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister in the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
  • President of Canadore College.
  • Chief Yukon Government Negotiator for Land Claims, Self-Government and Devolution.
  • Cabinet Secretary and Deputy Minister of the Executive Council, Government of Yukon.

Curriculum vitae

Education

  • PhD in Psychology University of British Columbia 1982

Research and expertise

  • Discrimination, prejudice and interpersonal processes enabling social empowerment and social devaluation.
  • Dynamics affecting minority group influence and the management of ‘out group’ status in the presentation of self.
  • Identity and self-definition.
  • Organizational culture.
  • Psychological approaches to the study of public policy and social issues.
  • The effect of role, group membership, and self-identification with member groups, on social cognition, attributions and attitudes.
  • Theories of social behaviour.
  • Currently (2011-2016) holds a restricted Associate Graduate Faculty Member appointment in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education, OISE, University of Toronto.

Involvement

  • Publications

    Dr. McTiernan was a Member of the Council of Canadian Academies’ Expert Panel on Science Performance and Research Funding whose report, Informing Research Choices: Indicators and Judgment, was published in 2012.

    He chaired the Judges Panel at the Ericsson National School Science Competition, Athlone, Ireland, March 15, 2012.

    He has edited a book of proceedings from a symposium he organized and chaired at the (Arctic AAAS) 34th Alaska Science Conference—Science, Technology and Arctic Hydrocarbon Exploration: The Beaufort Experience.

    He has published book chapters and peer reviewed journal articles on:

    • Community and regional sustainable development, northern conservation strategies and northern resource management.
    • Social responsibility.
    • Stereotyping.
    • Technology transfer and training partnerships.

    In addition, he has given more than 60 invited addresses, conference papers and panel presentations on a broad range of topics including innovation, economic development strategies, postsecondary policy, Aboriginal land claims and self-government, and methodological issues in the study of stereotyping.