Rob Wildeboer awarded Hennick Medal for Career Achievement
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Rob Wildeboer
The Jay and Barbara Hennick Centre for Business and Law at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business announced that Rob Wildeboer (LLB/MBA ’85), executive Chair and co-founder of Martinrea International Inc., is the recipient of the 2017 Hennick Medal for Career Achievement.
Rob Wildeboer
The Hennick Medal, awarded annually to a business and law graduate who has earned widespread recognition in the business and legal communities, was presented to Wildeboer at a reception in his honour in Toronto on Oct. 3, hosted by Wildeboer Dellelce LLP.
“Rob Wildeboer is an accomplished entrepreneur and legal dynamo with a global reputation for propelling businesses forward,” said Edward J. Waitzer, Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance at Osgoode and Schulich, and director of the Hennick Centre. “The Hennick Medal recognizes Rob’s outstanding contributions as a lawyer, business person and community leader, particularly his exceptional leadership ability in motivating people and moving organizations toward a vision.”
In his position at Martinrea International Inc., a global auto parts supplier specializing in automotive fluid systems and metal forming products, Wildeboer oversees 15,000 employees at 44 divisions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Europe and China.
He is also a founding partner of Wildeboer Dellelce LLP, which is focused on corporate, securities, lending, tax and real estate law. He now serves as counsel to the firm.
Prior to founding Wildeboer Dellelce in 1993, he was a lawyer with Stikeman Elliott LLP, an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School (where he taught corporate law and corporate finance) and a regulator with the Ontario Securities Commission.
Wildeboer is a director of the Canadian Automotive Partnership Counsel; a present and past adviser to the governments of Canada and Ontario on a variety of economic, trade, investment, industry, manufacturing and automotive mandates; past Chair of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and Chair of Cardus, both leading Canadian think tanks; and a director or adviser of numerous charitable organizations. In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his contributions to Canada.
In addition to his LLB from Osgoode and MBA from Schulich, he holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Guelph and an LLM from Harvard University.
Previous recipients of the Hennick Medal for Career Achievement have been Kathleen Taylor, former president and CEO of Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts and now Chair of the RBC Board of Directors, in 2010; Tye Burt, former president and CEO of Kinross Gold Corporation, in 2011; Moya Greene, CEO of Royal Mail Group, in 2012; Gregory Sorbara, former MPP of Vaughan and now chancellor of York University, in 2013; Marianne Harris, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), in 2014; the late Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Chair of Ferrari S.p.A., in 2015; and Carol Hansell, founder and senior partner of Hansell LLP and Hansell McLaughlin Advisory, in 2016.
About the Hennick Centre
Launched in 2009, the Jay and Barbara Hennick Centre for Business and Law – a joint initiative of Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business at York University – is the first Canadian centre to promote and develop joint business and law scholarship and education. Made possible by a gift from Jay and Barbara Hennick, the Hennick Centre’s flagship is the joint JD/MBA program offered by Osgoode and Schulich. The Hennick Centre also draws together the teaching and research strengths of the Davies Fund for Business Law and other endowed Chairs, including the Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair in Corporate Governance, cross-appointed to Osgoode and Schulich.
New Faces: Five new faculty members join Osgoode Hall Law School
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Osgoode Hall Law School at York University welcomes five new faculty members this fall: Fay Faraday, Emily Kidd White, Jennifer Nedelsky, Adam Parachin and Adrian A. Smith.
“Osgoode is proud to welcome these distinguished new faculty members whose excellence in legal teaching and research will not only nurture the potential of our students but also have a local, national and international impact in academic and public discourse, law and policy,” said Interim Dean Mary Condon.
Fay Faraday
Fay Faraday
Fay Faraday holds a BA (Honours) and an MA from the University of Toronto, and a JD (Gold Medal) from Osgoode. She has been a visiting professor at Osgoode since 2012. She joined the full-time faculty at Osgoode on July 1. A labour, human rights and constitutional lawyer in Toronto since 1996, and the co-chair of the Ontario Equal Pay Coalition, she has addressed a wide range of issues relating to equality and fundamental freedoms under the Charter: gender and work, rights of migrant workers, rights of persons with disabilities, race discrimination, employment equity, poverty, income security, socioeconomic rights and international human rights norms. She has represented clients in constitutional litigation at all levels of court, including numerous cases at the Supreme Court of Canada. The co-author and co-editor of two books on equality rights and one on labour rights, Faraday holds an Innovation Fellowship with the Metcalf Foundation, which published her three major reports on migrant worker rights in Canada in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Emily Kidd White
Emily Kidd White
Emily Kidd White received a BAH and a JD from Queen’s University, and an LLM (Jerome Lipper Prize for Distinction) and a JSD from New York University (NYU). She completed her doctoral studies at NYU’s School of Law as a Trudeau Foundation Scholar, and in 2016 was an IIAS Human Dignity Fellow. She joined Osgoode on July 1 as a full-time faculty member. White has previously served as the assistant editor of the European Journal of International Law, and held research fellowship and teaching assistant positions at the Jean Monnet Center for Regional and International Economic Law and Justice and the Institute for International Law and Justice. White writes on emotions in legal reasoning, and will be teaching constitutional law, jurisprudence and public international law.
Jennifer Nedelsky
Jennifer Nedelsky
Jennifer Nedelsky holds a BA from the University of Rochester and an MA and PhD from the University of Chicago. She joined Osgoode in January from the University of Toronto, where she was a professor of law and political science and a professorial Fellow at the Institute for Social Justice. Her teaching and scholarship have been concentrated on feminist theory, legal theory, American constitutional history and interpretation, and comparative constitutionalism. One of her books, Law’s Relations: A Relational Theory of Self, Autonomy, and Law (2011), won the C.B. Macpherson Prize, awarded by the Canadian Political Science Association.
In addition, Fay Faraday, Adam Parachin, Adrian A. Smith and Emily Kidd White joined the full-time faculty on July 1.
Adam Parachin
Adam Parachin
Adam Parachin received a BA with high distinction from the University of Toronto, an LLB from Osgoode and an LLM from the University of Toronto. He joins Osgoode from the Western University Faculty of Law, where he worked for the past 14 years. He joined the full-time faculty at Osgoode on July 1. An outstanding teacher, he received Western’s Professor of the Year Award three times. Prior to Western, Parachin was an associate in the Estates, Trusts and Charities Department of Fasken Martineau LLP. His areas of expertise are charity and not-for-profit law, property law, trusts and estates, and income tax. He was awarded the Douglas J. Sherbaniuk Distinguished Writing Award in 2010 from the Canadian Tax Foundation and has also received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant. He is a board member of the Pemsel Case Foundation – a charitable foundation established to study and recommend reform to the law of charity – and a member of the Canada Revenue Agency Charities Directorate Technical Issues Working Group.
Adrian A. Smith
Adrian A. Smith
Adrian A. Smith holds a BA (Honours) from Western University, an LLB and an LLM from Osgoode, and a DCL from McGill University’s Faculty of Law. He begins his career at Osgoode as academic director of Parkdale Community Legal Services, and will teach labour law. He was welcomed as a full-time faculty member on July 1. Since July 2011, he has been with Carleton’s Department of Law and Legal Studies and was cross-appointed to the Institute of Political Economy and the Institute of African Studies. His areas of interest relate to law, political economy and development. He researches the regulation of labour in colonial and settler colonial contexts, including temporary labour migration in Canada, as well as anti-racism. Smith also has interests in popular legal education in social movements. He is co-editor of Unfree Labour? Struggles of Migrant and Immigrant Workers in Canada (PM Press). He is also a youth basketball coach.
Schulich Professor Peter Macdonald appointed co-director of Hennick Centre
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Hennick Centre
Schulich School of Business Professor Peter Macdonald has been appointed the new co-director of the Hennick Centre for Business and Law at York University.
Peter Macdonald
Macdonald is a lawyer, mediator and co-director o the joint MBA/JD program at Schulich, and graduated from York’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 1985. Between 1987-94 he practiced corporate, commercial and securities law with two downtown Toronto law firms and a large multinational corporation in Montreal. Since 1995, Macdonald has acted as a commercial mediator and dispute resolution trainer in a broad range of litigious, regulatory and business-oriented contexts. In 2001, he joined the faculty at Schulich School of Business to teach business law to undergraduate and graduate students. He has received numerous teaching excellence awards.
“We’re very fortunate to have Peter join us as a co-director of the Centre,” said Ed Waitzer, director, Hennick Centre for Business and Law. “As co-director of the JD/MBA program, Peter already plays a key role in, and has made a huge contribution to, many of our programs and priorities. He’s a terrific resource.”
Launched on Feb. 6, 2009, the Jay and Barbara Hennick Centre for Business and Law at York University is the first Canadian centre to promote and develop joint business and law scholarship and education. Made possible by a transformational gift from Jay and Barbara Hennick, the Hennick Centre is a hotbed for initiatives and programs that deliver the competencies professionals need to analyse business and legal problems in a holistic way. It is a joint initiative of Osgoode Hall Law School, the largest common-law law school in Canada, and world-leading business school Schulich School of Business.
The Hennick Centre also draws together the teaching and research strengths of the Davies Fund for Business Law and other endowed Chairs including the Jarislowsky Dimma Mooney Chair for Corporate Governance and the Osler Chair in Business Law. The Centre has launched a business certificate program for practicing lawyers with Osgoode Professional Development and the Schulich Executive Education Centre. The Centre also hosts an annual lecture series and awards endowed medals of honour for academic achievement to JD/MBA students, and career achievement to international leaders in business and law.
The Hennick Centre’s long-term strategic plan is “Defining the Intersection of Business, Law and Public Policy.”
Five York University professors elected to the Royal Society of Canada
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The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) has elected four York University professors to its ranks as Fellows, and one professor as a member of the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
The University’s newest members of the RSC are Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS) Professors Wenona Giles and Joan Judge, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) Professor Paul Sych, and Osgoode Hall Law School Professor David Vaver. Lassonde School of Engineering Professor John Moores has been named a member of the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
“York is delighted to see that Professors Wenona Giles, Joan Judge, Paul Sych and David Vaver have been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada, as Fellows; and Professor John Moores as a College Member,” said Robert Haché, vice-president Research & Innovation. “This reflects the fact that York is home to distinguished researchers and academics from all branches of academia who have made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, and Canadian public life.”
Academy of the Arts & Humanities
Division of Social Science
Wenona Giles
Wenona Giles, Department of Anthropology, LA&PS, has made significant contributions to the anthropologies of gendered migration, displacement and war. Her ground-breaking work on the gender relations of militarization and conflict, and her research and engaged scholarship on long-term forced migration ranks among the best in its field and has consistently helped to open doors to new scholarly explorations through synergistic laboratory like collaborations.
David Vaver
David Vaver, Osgoode Hall Law School, is one of the world’s preeminent scholars of intellectual property law. His pioneering work on “user rights” and the public interest has brought fairness and balance to Canada’s intellectual property system. The prolific author of many acclaimed books, edited collections, and peer-reviewed articles, his scholarship is relied on as persuasive authority by courts and lawmakers, while his teaching and mentorship have nurtured many leading minds in the field.
Division of Humanities
Joan Judge
Joan Judge, Department of History, LA&PS, has reshaped understanding of modern Chinese history through methodologically innovative studies in Chinese print culture, periodical studies and women’s history. Prominent among her publications are three books: Print and Politics: ‘Shibao’ and the Culture of Reform in Late Qing China; The Precious Raft of History: The Past, the West, and the Woman Question in China; and Republican Lens: Gender, Visuality, and Experience in the Early Chinese Periodical Press.
Division of Arts
Paul Sych
Paul Sych, Department of Design, AMPD, continues to create cutting-edge works in both digital and print that range across typography, branding and motion design, with a renowned career of graphic expression spanning three decades. His work has appeared in more than 130 books and publications worldwide. Since his appointment to the Department of Design, he has been celebrated with more than 100 international art direction, design and typography awards.
College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists
John Moores
John Moores, Department of Earth and Space Science & Engineering, Lassonde School of Engineering, is an internationally recognized planetary scientist and space engineer whose research explores the atmospheres and surfaces of other worlds. His research group has been a member of the science and operations teams of four ESA and NASA space missions to Mars and Titan and has been awarded the NASA group achievement award on 16 occasions. In this work, he has published 55 papers garnering more than 4,000 citations.
Eighty-nine new Fellows in the Academies of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science have been elected by their peers for their outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement. Recognition by the RSC is the highest honour an individual can achieve in the Arts, Social Sciences and Sciences.
The RSC is also welcoming 52 new Members of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, that includes top mid-career leaders in Canada. The college provides the RSC with a multigenerational capacity to help Canada and the world address major challenges and seize new opportunities including those identified in emerging fields.
“These exceptionally talented scholars, artists and scientists have made an outstanding mark in their fields, advancing knowledge and creating a positive impact on the world. We are thrilled to welcome them, knowing they will continue to work towards a better future for all of us based on deep knowledge and understanding of the past and present,” says RSC President Chad Gaffield.
The 2018 Fellows and Members will be welcomed into the RSC this November, in Halifax, during the RSC’s AGM, The Celebration of Excellence and Engagement. The presentation of RSC Medals and Awards, will also take place along with multiple opportunities to learn about and discuss the latest research results.
International research project seeks to scale access to community-based justice
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The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ), located at Osgoode Hall Law School, is joining forces with researchers in Kenya, Sierra Leone and South Africa to build a business case for scaling community-based justice services.
Professor Trevor Farrow is the principal investigator on the project
Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), with support from Open Society Foundations (OSF), the newly launched Community-Based Justice Research (CBJR) Project is a three-year initiative to assess the costs, benefits and opportunities for increasing access to community-based justice services.
Community-based justice services fill gaps in the delivery of legal services in many otherwise underserved areas; they facilitate early legal problem resolution and empower individuals to engage in society to protect their legal rights. They are sometimes the only source of legal support for women, marginalized and vulnerable groups and persons living in rural and remote locations. Yet globally, there is a lack of empirical evidence to illustrate their value as tools for ensuring access to justice or their potential for wider application.
Incorporating key learnings from the CFCJ’s own seven-year (2011-18) national research project on the “Cost of Justice in Canada,” the Community-Based Justice Research Project will explore unanswered questions around scope, quality, cost and impact of different community-oriented legal service delivery mechanisms and help to respond to the lack of evidence to support increasing access to community justice programs. In doing so, this project is also responding to the United Nations’ global call-to-action to ensure equal access to justice for all as stated in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.3.
“We are very grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with this talented group of researchers and community justice organizations on the shared international goal of studying and ultimately improving access to justice,” said Principal Investigator Trevor Farrow.
The Canadian Forum on Civil Justice (CFCJ) is a national non-profit organization based at Osgoode Hall Law School that aims to advance civil justice reform through research and advocacy. The CFCJ strives to make the civil justice system more accessible, effective, and sustainable through projects and initiatives that are people-centered.
Crossroads event to explore Canada’s role in human rights, equity and inclusion
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A two-day collaborative event at York University will seek to explore themes of human rights, equity and inclusion during a period of increasing populism around the world.
“Canada: Inclusion at a Crossroads 2018,” running Oct. 3 and 4, is presented in partnership by Osgoode Hall Law School, the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies, the Department of Community Safety, and the Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion (REI) at York University.
This event is open to all members of the York community, as well as external community members. There is no cost to attend, but seating is limited.
Oct. 3 will feature a panel discussion from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. with the theme “Equity and Inclusion in the Era of Racial Backlash” in the Helliwell Centre, 1014 Osgoode Hall Law School. The discussion will be moderated by Michael F. Charles, executive director, REI, and feature the following panellists: Sunil Gurmukh, counsel, Ontario Human Rights Commission; Arleen Huggins, partner, Koskie Minsky LLP; Chizoba Imoka, PhD candidate, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education, University of Toronto; and Enakshi Dua, associate professor, equity studies, York University.
Oct. 4 will feature a panel focusing on “Challenging Hate: Human Rights, Freedom, and Responsibilities” in the Helliwell Centre, 1014 Osgoode Hall Law School, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. The discussion will be moderated by Osgoode Professor Lorne Sossin and feature the following panellists: Shaheen Azmi, director of policy, education, monitoring and outreach, Ontario Human Rights Commission; Benjamin Berger, professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University; and Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, director, Equality Program, Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
These events bring together multi-sector panellists with diverse professional and personal expertise to discuss Canada’s ongoing efforts to address anti-Semitism, equity and inclusion in an environment complicated by rising populism and intolerance.
For more information, visit the event website; to register, visit this link.
REI is committed to promoting the principles of equity and inclusion on its campuses. As part of these efforts, it seeks to bring open and honest conversations to the forefront, raise awareness and work with the community to drive these values throughout the University’s activities.
Osgoode PhD candidate Jake Okechukwu Effoduh is one of 90 environmentalists from Canada who recently received training from former U.S. vice-president and Nobel laureate Al Gore on mobilizing action around the issue of climate change.
Jake Okechukwu Effoduh
Over the course of three days in late August in Los Angeles, Effoduh and the group participated in training sessions to become Climate Reality Leaders who will invite their communities to act on solutions to the global climate crisis.
Effoduh’s training involved discussions on climate science, solutions to solve the climate crisis and communications techniques to rally Canadians behind those solutions. He also committed to delivering free presentations on climate change to the Osgoode and York communities and performing a variety of activities to convince students and faculty to collaborate and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
“Local communities and their elected officials have a fundamental role in the global fight against climate change,” Effoduh said. “I am looking forward to collaborating with them and rallying citizens behind ambitious greenhouse gas reduction objectives and innovative initiatives. The scientific data is clear and solutions and tools exist; it is time to act.”
A lawyer, environmentalist and activist, Effoduh holds master’s degrees in international law from the University of Oxford as well as Osgoode. Prior to studying law, he anchored two of Nigeria’s most popular radio programs, earning several local and international awards for his activism on radio. He is passionate about human rights and technology transfer mechanisms for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Africa.
The Climate Reality Project, founded by Gore, is a global network of citizens committed to the implementation of solutions to the issue of climate change. There are currently more than 900 active Climate Reality Leaders across Canada.
Announcing the 2018 Bryden Alumni Award recipients
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Now in its 18th year, the Bryden Alumni Awards celebrate outstanding York University alumni who have achieved the extraordinary and made remarkable contributions in their fields, communities and to the University. The leaders who will be celebrated on Nov. 20 at a celebration at Arcadian Court are: Paul Sanberg (BSc ’76); Cheryl and Rob McEwen (MBA ’78, LLD ’05); Pernille Ironside (JD ’99); and Jamil Jivani (BA ’10).
“As we welcome a new group of recipients for this year’s Bryden Alumni Awards, we recognize the achievements and possibilities for those with a York University education,” said Jeff O’Hagan, vice-president Advancement. “Our 2018 honourees are being recognized for their extensive achievements, leadership, philanthropic support and meaningful engagement with the alumni community locally and globally. As they continually inspire us, we look forward to honouring them at the awards this fall.”
This year, there are four categories of Bryden Alumni Awards, each category addresses a distinct set of achievements and contributions.
Outstanding Achievement: An alumnus or alumna who has achieved distinction in their field and whose integrity and ability inspire alumni, faculty, staff and students.
Paul Sanberg
Paul Sanberg
Paul Sanberg is senior vice president for Research, Innovation & Knowledge Enterprise; a Distinguished University Professor of Medicine, Engineering, and Business, the executive director of the Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair at the University of South Florida, and the president of the National Academy of Inventors. His work has been instrumental in understanding and developing new pharmaceutical and cellular therapeutics for stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s disease and Tourette syndrome. He studied at York University, the University of British Columbia, the Australian National University and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Sanberg has held faculty appointments at the University of Cincinnati and Brown University, among others.
His research involves discovering innovative ways to repair the damaged brain. Sanberg helped lead the team that demonstrated the use of umbilical cord blood derived cells for neurological disease. He is listed as an inventor on 160 worldwide patents and is the author of more than 660 articles and 14 books, with more than 32,000 citations. He has served on numerous scientific advisory boards, including the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health. He has industry experience as a founder or director of several companies involved in cell therapy for degenerative disorders. He has served on editorial boards for more than 30 scientific journals, is co-editor-in-chief of Technology and Innovation: Journal of the National Academy of Inventors and has served as president of several professional societies, including the American Society for Neural Transplantation and Repair, Cell Transplant Society, and International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.
Sanberg is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering; National Academy of Inventors, Royal Societies of Chemistry, Public Health, and Medicine. He is the recipient of many notable awards.
Outstanding Contribution: An alumnus or alumna who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of York and its students through exceptional service, commitment and/or philanthropic contributions.
Cheryl and Rob McEwen
Cheryl and Rob McEwen
The McEwens have donated more than $60 million to encourage excellence and innovation in healthcare and education. Their donations have led to the establishment of the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Toronto General Hospital; McEwen School of Architecture at Laurentian University; the McEwen Leadership Program at St. Andrew’s College; and the Lakefield College Gym & Entrepreneurial scholarship. In addition, significant donations were made to the Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital & Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre.
In 2017, the McEwens donated $8-million to the Schulich School Business. York University and Schulich named the Rob and Cheryl McEwen Graduate Study & Research Building in honour of their long-term support of the school. With this donation, the McEwens have donated more than $10 million to Schulich and York University.
Rob McEwen is chairman and chief owner of McEwen Mining Inc. with the goal of entering the S&P 500. He is the founder & former chairman and CEO of Goldcorp Inc., one of the world’s largest gold producers. In 1990, Rob jumped from the investment industry into the mining industry where he consolidated five companies to create Goldcorp Inc. During his last 13 years as Goldcorp’s CEO, the company’s market capitalization grew from $50 million to over $8 billion and its share price grew at a compound annual rate of 31 per cent. He is a recipient of the Order of Canada: Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee Award; Honorary Doctor of Laws; 2001 PDAC Developer of the Year Award; 2017 inducted into The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame. He sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board, Schulich School of Business; X Prize Foundation: Vision Circle and Board of Trustees; CEO & WPO.
Cheryl McEwen is a volunteer, philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is the recipient of a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Award for her contributions to advance research in regenerative medicine and stem cells. She is the vice-chair of Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation Board, serving on the board since 2005. She is also an entrepreneur, having worked for 25 years within the fashion industry, and is the founder of Make My Day Foods Inc.
Tentanda Via: An alumnus or alumna who has demonstrated innovative, unconventional and daring leadership and success, reflecting the University’s motto – “The Way Must Be Tried.”
Pernille Ironside
Pernille Ironside
Pernille Ironside is an international civil servant with the United Nations. Since January 2017, she has been serving as UNICEF’s Deputy Representative in Nigeria. She led the development of a new five-year country program (2018-22) for UNICEF as well as a new UN Strategic Development Partnership Framework (2018-21) for the UN Country Team with the Government of Nigeria. Prior to this, she was UNICEF’s Chief of Field Operations in Iraq based in Baghdad, where she led efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance to vulnerable children and their families, particularly in relation to the Anbar and Mosul humanitarian crises. From 2013 to 2015, she served as UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office in the Gaza Strip for which she and her team were awarded an internal UNICEF staff team award for their humanitarian action during the 51-day conflict in Gaza in 2014.
Since joining the UN in 2002, Ironside has also served in Tacloban leading UNICEF’s emergency child protection response in the immediate aftermath of super-typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines in 2013; in Yemen as chief of child protection; in Goma, DRC as a child protection specialist; and in UNICEF global Headquarters in New York during which she advised UNICEF child protection staff and management working in 20 countries affected by armed conflict and/or natural disaster involving frequent deployments to the frontlines. She is specialized in negotiating the release of children associated with armed forces/groups and supporting their community reintegration.
In addition to her work with UNICEF, Ironside has held positions with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) in Goma, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in New York, the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
One to Watch: An alumnus or alumna who has made a significant impact in their field and/or community within 15 years of a bachelor’s degree or 10 years of a professional/ graduate degree.
Jamil Jivani
Jamil Jivani. Photo credit: Wim Van Cappellen
Jamil Jivani (BA ’10) is a Canadian lawyer, law professor and author. He is focused on creating economic opportunities for families, empowering youth and improving public safety.
Jivani has held research and teaching appointments at Osgoode Hall Law School and Yale Law School. He was also the director of law and policy at Our Ohio Renewal, a nonprofit organization founded at Ohio State University to develop solutions to the issues raised in J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy. He previously practiced law at the international business law firm Torys LLP.
Jivani’s community leadership includes founding the Citizen Empowerment Project and serving as vice chair of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. He has also volunteered with youth organizations in Kenya, Egypt and Belgium.
His work in disadvantaged neighborhoods in North America and Europe has led him to appear on numerous national and international television and radio programs. His writing has been published by The Guardian, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post and Australia’s Quillette magazine.
A graduate of Humber College, York University and Yale Law School, he was named the 2015 young lawyer of the year by the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers and received the International Development and Relief Foundation’s 2017 youth leadership award.
His first book Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity was published by HarperCollins in April 2018 and listed for the Toronto Book Awards.
Sponsored by premiere sponsor TD Insurance, the awards are named after the late Bruce Bryden (BA ’64), founder of the York University Alumni Association and the first alumni chair of the York University Board of Governors. A passionate member of the community for nearly 30 years, Bryden’s inspiring commitment, vision and contributions helped shape York into the vibrant and innovative university it is today.
Visit http://alumniandfriends.yorku.ca/bryden2018 for more information about the Bryden Awards, to learn more about the recipients, or to purchase tickets (note that space is limited for this event).
Osgoode PhD candidate teams up with Sick Kids to explore AI in health outcomes
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Ian Stedman
Osgoode Hall Law School PhD candidate Ian Stedman has been awarded a prestigious Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence Law and Ethics with the Hospital for Sick Children’s Centre for Computational Medicine.
Starting this fall, Stedman will explore the role that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play in improving health outcomes, particularly for patients and families with rare diseases.
The work is especially important to Stedman, a lawyer and 37-year-old married father of two who was diagnosed five years ago with a rare disease called Muckle Wells Syndrome. His delayed diagnosis resulted in progressive nerve damage that led to permanent hearing loss, which also inspired him to become an advocate for people with rare diseases.
“The revolutionary use of AI technology in health care is allowing people with rare and undiagnosed genetic diseases to benefit from the application of machine learning to analyze large genomic data sets,” Stedman said. “This SickKids analysis will identify possible disease-causing genes that, in turn, will lead to quicker diagnoses and, in many cases, drive research into appropriate therapies.”
The one-year, $40,000 Fellowship in Artificial Intelligence Law and Ethics will allow Stedman to apply his expertise in law, ethics and governance while working on-site at SickKids.
He will work with computer scientists, engineers, bioinformaticians, genetic counsellors and clinicians in order to directly address concerns that arise in relation to the Centre for Computational Medicine’s innovative work. He will also work with the SickKids’ research ethics board on refining institutional ethics review processes so that they are responsive to the unique needs of AI-driven research.
“This is an amazing opportunity to contribute to the removal of barriers that limit the use of AI in both the research and clinical settings and to inform broader policy directions at SickKids,” he said.
The SickKids Fellowship is one of a number of prestigious external awards (including the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholarship and the Centre for International Governance Innovation Doctoral Scholar) that students in Osgoode Hall Law School’s Graduate Program in Law have won in the past year.
Stedman’s doctoral work at Osgoode focuses on governance issues related to the principles of transparency and accountability, and the laws, policies and customs that enforce those principles.
Seeing the emerging concerns about AI as a good fit for his research, he also collaborated with IP Osgoode (Osgoode Hall Law School’s Intellectual Property Law and Technology program) to organize an Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded conference in early 2018 called “Bracing for Impact – The Artificial Intelligence Challenge: A Road Map for AI Policy in Canada.” The conference examined specific topics within AI and furthered interest in the role governments ought to play, if any, in the use and regulation of artificial intelligence in both the public and private sectors.
Eleonora Dimitrova appointed director of LAWS program at Osgoode
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Eleonora Dimitrova has been appointed director of the Law in Action Within Schools (LAWS) program, an innovative partnership between Osgoode Hall Law School, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Toronto District School Board.
Eleonora Dimitrova
The announcement was made by Mya Rimon, assistant dean, students, Osgoode Hall Law School, on July 27.
LAWS is designed to deliver an education program aimed at supporting, guiding and motivating high-school students facing challenges to success.
Dimitrova is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law (’10) and has been involved with the LAWS program since its early days, as a volunteer in 2007-08 and a summer student in 2009-10.
Since 2013, Dimitrova has been the full-time LAWS program coordinator at Osgoode, where she works with the program’s partner high schools in the Jane-Finch community. Last year, Dimitrova served as the acting director of LAWS for several months.
“We are thrilled that Eleonora’s experience, talent and energy will continue to benefit the law schools at U of T and Osgoode and the 1,000-plus youth in our communities who are involved in LAWS each year,” said Rimon, adding that recruiting is underway for the Osgoode LAWS program coordinator.
The University’s newest members of the RSC are Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (LA&PS) Professors Wenona Giles and Joan Judge, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD) Professor Paul Sych, and Osgoode Hall Law School Professor David Vaver. Lassonde School of Engineering Professor John Moores has been named a member of the RSC’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
“As we welcome a new group of recipients for this year’s Bryden Alumni Awards, we recognize the achievements and possibilities for those with a York University education,” said Jeff O’Hagan, vice-president Advancement. “Our 2018 honourees are being recognized for their extensive achievements, leadership, philanthropic support and meaningful engagement with the alumni community locally and globally. As they continually inspire us, we look forward to honouring them at the awards this fall.”
