Lieutenant Governor's Silver Medal 2019/2020
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Dr. Thea Vakil, Adjunct Professor at the School of Public Administration, University of Victoria - former ADM, BC Public Service
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Over more than thirty years in her career, Thea Vakil has demonstrated leadership and management
excellence in the BC Public Service (BCPS) and in the School of Public Administration at the University of
Victoria. Not only has she served two important public institutions with distinction, contributing insight
and advice to public service and academic leaders alike while furthering the education of aspiring public
servants, she has continuously served as a role model for integrity, mentorship, and public service.
Ms. Vakil joined the BCPS in the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations in 1985. She was promoted
rapidly in the Ministry, moving from the position of Manager of Research and Information in the
Government Personnel Services Division to Secretary to the Treasury Board, 1987-92. She later served as
the Assistant Deputy Minister in Forests, 1992-94 to Associate Deputy Minister of Health, 1994-96, as
well the Ministry for Children and Family Development, 1996-98, and finally, as Assistant Deputy
Minister in Attorney General, 1998-2001. Having served in five different ministries, Ms. Vakil was widely
known for her incisive advice, leadership, hard work and ability to complete projects, and integrity.
As a public servant, Ms. Vakil developed important connections with universities. First, she brought new
talent into the BC Public Service by creating coop employment opportunities for graduate students,
mentoring several who later became senior executives in the BC government. Second, while working as
a full-time executive in the BCPS, Ms. Vakil would regularly teach several courses a year variously at the
University of Victoria’s School of Public Administration and Faculty of Business. Ms. Vakil was a widely
appreciated and celebrated instructor. In 2002, she won the Faculty of Human and Social Development
Teaching Award at the University of Victoria based on the quality of her instruction from 1990-2001, and
a 2004 award from the UVic Commerce Students Society for undergraduate teaching.
In 2001, after retiring from the BC Public Service, Ms. Vakil moved to the University of Victoria’s School
of Public Administration as an instructor and administrative leader. She took on a leadership role in
establishing and managing a multi-institutional learning consortium (comprised of the University of
Victoria, Royal Roads University and Camosun College) to deliver the highly successful Leading the Way
leadership development programs for the BC Public Service Agency for executives and public servants
the BC Public Service over several years. During this time she earned her PhD from UVic in 2009, by
completing a dissertation exploring whether public service values had evolved during an era of dramatic
change, seen through the lens of organizational change theories.
Dr. Vakil’s legacy are the thousands of students she has taught and hundreds of public servants and
public-service and university administrative staff she led, mentored, and supported. By the time she
retired in 2018, she had supervised over a hundred capstone reports by UVic graduate students for
clients in various governments (federal, provincial, and local) and the non-profit sector, in addition to
her board work for local nonprofit organizations.
excellence in the BC Public Service (BCPS) and in the School of Public Administration at the University of
Victoria. Not only has she served two important public institutions with distinction, contributing insight
and advice to public service and academic leaders alike while furthering the education of aspiring public
servants, she has continuously served as a role model for integrity, mentorship, and public service.
Ms. Vakil joined the BCPS in the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Relations in 1985. She was promoted
rapidly in the Ministry, moving from the position of Manager of Research and Information in the
Government Personnel Services Division to Secretary to the Treasury Board, 1987-92. She later served as
the Assistant Deputy Minister in Forests, 1992-94 to Associate Deputy Minister of Health, 1994-96, as
well the Ministry for Children and Family Development, 1996-98, and finally, as Assistant Deputy
Minister in Attorney General, 1998-2001. Having served in five different ministries, Ms. Vakil was widely
known for her incisive advice, leadership, hard work and ability to complete projects, and integrity.
As a public servant, Ms. Vakil developed important connections with universities. First, she brought new
talent into the BC Public Service by creating coop employment opportunities for graduate students,
mentoring several who later became senior executives in the BC government. Second, while working as
a full-time executive in the BCPS, Ms. Vakil would regularly teach several courses a year variously at the
University of Victoria’s School of Public Administration and Faculty of Business. Ms. Vakil was a widely
appreciated and celebrated instructor. In 2002, she won the Faculty of Human and Social Development
Teaching Award at the University of Victoria based on the quality of her instruction from 1990-2001, and
a 2004 award from the UVic Commerce Students Society for undergraduate teaching.
In 2001, after retiring from the BC Public Service, Ms. Vakil moved to the University of Victoria’s School
of Public Administration as an instructor and administrative leader. She took on a leadership role in
establishing and managing a multi-institutional learning consortium (comprised of the University of
Victoria, Royal Roads University and Camosun College) to deliver the highly successful Leading the Way
leadership development programs for the BC Public Service Agency for executives and public servants
the BC Public Service over several years. During this time she earned her PhD from UVic in 2009, by
completing a dissertation exploring whether public service values had evolved during an era of dramatic
change, seen through the lens of organizational change theories.
Dr. Vakil’s legacy are the thousands of students she has taught and hundreds of public servants and
public-service and university administrative staff she led, mentored, and supported. By the time she
retired in 2018, she had supervised over a hundred capstone reports by UVic graduate students for
clients in various governments (federal, provincial, and local) and the non-profit sector, in addition to
her board work for local nonprofit organizations.
We are dedicated to promoting excellence in public administration.