Dr. John Hepburn is the Vice President Research & International at The University of British Columbia. John was Dean of the Faculty of Science at UBC from 2003- 2005 before assuming the role of Vice President Research in October 2005. His title was revised to Vice President Research & International in 2009.

John received his B.Sc in Chemistry in 1976 from the University of Waterloo and his Ph.D in 1980 from the University of Toronto, where his supervisor was Nobel Laureate Dr. John Polanyi.

Following a period as a NATO Fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, John taught Chemistry and Physics at the University of Waterloo from 1982-2001, chairing the Chemistry Department for two years. In 2001, he became Head of Chemistry at UBC before being appointed Dean of Science.