It was over before it began for Dr. Wendy Cukier.

The high-profile academic leader was slated to become Brock University’s first female president this week, only to have the appointment cancelled in a “mutual decision” with the school’s board three days before she was supposed to take the job.

John Suk, the chair of the university’s board of trustees, released a statement Monday after an in-camera meeting with the school’s senate. He expressed his “deep regret” that Cukier — on the faculty at Toronto’s Ryerson University since 1986 — would not assume the role of Brock’s president and vice-chancellor, a decision reached during her “long transition process” that began last December.

The university has offered no further explanation for the sudden change in direction. Cukier was scheduled to take the job at the St. Catharines university Sept. 1.

She did not return the Star's requests for comment Tuesday.

“Both parties have determined through this process that it was best not to proceed with her appointment,” Suk said in the statement.

In an interview Tuesday, the Brock University board’s vice-chair, Gary Comerford, refused to explain the move beyond saying it was a “mutual decision.” He called the situation with Cukier “unfortunate” and said the university must now focus on finding its next president. For the time being, university administrator Brian Hutchings will remain as interim president, Comerford said, a role he’s held since June.

“I don’t think anybody wanted us to be in this situation,” Comerford said. “Right now the most important thing is for Brock and the Brock family to look forward and progress.”

In July, Cukier celebrated her 30th anniversary at Ryerson (an occasion that drew kudos from a slew of public figures, including Toronto Mayor John Tory), where she has held a number of prominent roles, including associate dean of the Ted Rogers School of Management, founder of the school’s Diversity Institute and, since 2011, vice-president of research and innovation. She is also well-known for her leadership as a gun-control advocate and for her work to support Syrian refugees through the university.

Linda Rose-Krosner, president of the Brock University Faculty Association, said the move came as a surprise and has left staff feeling frustrated just before the beginning of a new fall semester.

“There’s been very little information coming forward on why or how (this happened),” said Rose-Krosner.

“There were quite a lot of high expectations for Wendy’s leadership for Brock . . . I think we’re apprehensive also about what’s going to happen next.”

Cukier was originally going to replace outgoing Brock president Jack Lightstone, who had held the role since 2006. Now Michael Forbes, a Ryerson spokesperson, said in an email that Cukier will return to that university as a professor at the school of management.

According to a Brock professor who sits on the university senate, rumours have swirled for several weeks that Cukier might not take the president’s job. The professor attended an in-camera meeting on Monday when the decision to cancel her appointment was announced and spoke with the Star on condition of anonymity.

The professor said Cukier held meetings with several university departments through the summer, but had apparently started cancelling these appointments in recent weeks. Then on Monday, during the closed-door meeting with the board of trustees, Suk announced Cukier wouldn’t become president and that Hutchings will remain in that role for the time being.

According to the source, Suk told the senate that he couldn’t give any more details because of a confidentiality agreement between Brock and Cukier.

“People left the meeting disgusted. He kept saying, ‘I wish I could tell you I wish I could tell you, but I had no choice,’ ” the source said. Comerford refused to discuss this, saying he would never disclose specifics of what is said in an in-camera meeting.

There is also the question of whether the recently announced departure of Neil McCartney, who was provost and vice-president, academic, was related to Cukier’s transition into the role, the source told the Star. According to the school website, McCartney was to be replaced by Martin Singer, a former dean at York University who is seen as a Cukier ally, the source said.

When asked about this by the Star, Comerford said that to his knowledge McCartney’s departure was not related to Cukier. He also said that Singer’s position with the university is not linked with the decision to find a different president.

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The Star was not able to reach McCartney or Singer on Tuesday.

Rose-Krosner said the faculty association had pushed for an open selection process, but instead were not involved in the search that eventually tapped Cukier .

“It’s frustrating because we’d like to also make sure that doesn’t happen again,” she said.