She became the 8th and current president and vice-chancellor of York University in Toronto, Canada, upon succeeding Mamdouh Shoukri on July 1, 2017 for a five-year term.

During her research career, Lenton led randomized public telephone surveys of social issues such as Internet dating, sexual assaults, and continues to examine Judaism in Canada.

[2] Before becoming an academic administrator, she published research on a range of topics related to antisemitism,[3][4] family violence, feminism in academia, and online dating.

[10] The report was based on phone surveys of up to eighty questions[11] and presents a "portrait of the identity, practices, and experiences of Jews in Canada".

At that time, several York University faculty councils and student associations also carried non-confidence motions in the conduct and leadership of Lenton as president.