Leadership
Vice-President External Relations (Acting)
Gail Fredrickson
Gail Fredrickson serves as Interim Vice-President (External Relations) at the University of Alberta. She brings extensive senior executive experience across post-secondary, healthcare, corporate and non-profit sectors, both nationally and internationally.
Prior to stepping into this role, Gail led the university’s Marketing and Communications portfolio, where she worked to advance its global brand profile, safeguard its reputation and drive key strategic priorities forward. She holds a BComm and an MSc in Corporate and Organizational Communications — focused on leadership and high-performance team development — and is a certified executive coach.
Email: gail.fredrickson@ualberta.ca
Chief of Staff
Spencer Murray
Spencer Murray is the Chief of Staff for the Office of the Vice-President (External Relations). He has held a number of leadership roles in marketing and communications, including as the Director of Communications and Public Relations for the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and Sr. Partner, Marketing and Communications, for the Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) at the U of A. Spencer Holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta and a Diploma in Public Relations from Macewan University.
Email: spencer.murray@ualberta.ca | Phone: 780-991-7136
Senior Advisor
(Portfolio Strategy)
Andrea Smith
Andrea Smith is the Portfolio Strategy Senior Advisor for External Relations. Andrea uses her extensive leadership experience building businesses from strategic assessment through to realization to enrich External Relations' vibrant and dynamic work environment. A civil engineer with an MBA, Andrea's professional skills, coupled with her eclectic leadership experience in corporate, not-for-profit and public institutions (universities), provide important insight and direction to the External Relations portfolio.
Email: andrea.smith@ualberta.ca | Phone: 780-691-0901
Associate Vice-President
(Government + Community Relations)
Alexis Ksiazkiewicz
Alexis Ksiazkiewicz leads institutional Government and Community Relations strategies. Over the past twenty years, she has held leadership roles within the advanced education sector in constituency organizations, advocacy groups, provincial and national associations, and at the University of Alberta. In her current role, she works to advance the university's reputation and priorities with government and stakeholders locally, provincially and nationally. Alexis holds both a bachelor's and a master's degree in Political Science from the U of A and has completed a program on change leadership at Rotman School of Management.
Email: alexis.ksiazkiewicz@ualberta.ca | Phone: 780-886-9693
Associate Vice-President
(Development + Alumni Relations)
Kelly Spencer
Kelly Spencer leads the university’s Development portfolio, supporting fundraising and external engagement activities across all five of the University’s campuses. A proud alumna of the University of Alberta with a BA (Political Science), and an MA (Communications and Technology), Kelly joined the university in 2004, holding a number of leadership positions over the years, most recently serving as Interim Vice-President, Advancement from 2018 to 2020. In addition to her university experience, Kelly was a consultant for a big four firm where she worked with private and public sector clients in Canada and the United States to develop operational excellence.
Email: kelly.spencer@ualberta.ca | Phone: 780-492-0333
