York University President Emerita Lorna Marsden has earned a nomination for a Heritage Toronto Award for Historical Writing.
This category of the highly prestigious awards recognizes English language non-fiction books, including e-books.
Marsden is nominated for the book award for Leading the Modern University: York University’s Presidents on Continuity and Change, 1974-2014, which explores York University’s tremendous growth.
York University was founded in 1959, and is now the second-largest university in Ontario and the third-largest university in Canada.
Published by University of Toronto Press, the book “documents the challenges of financing, moral crises, and succession that University presidents encountered from the early 1970s to 2014, and reveals that large public institutions have internal dynamics and external forces that supersede any individual leader’s years in office. This is a case study for those interested in organizational change during a dynamic period in higher education.”
Marsden served as president of York University from 1997 to 2007. During her time as president, she founded the University’s Culture & Communications program, and led a major campaign for the first green building on campus.