Faculty Awards, Grants & Accolades
Impact of Mindfulness and Feedback Literacy on Student Wellness and Learning Skills Project earns Western Strategic Support Seed Grant
Professor Thoman Telfer along with Christine Bell (PI) from Schulich, and three other investigators at Western have been awarded a Western Strategic Support Seed Grant for SSHRC Success. The project, titled "Impact of Mindfulness and Feedback Literacy on Student Wellness and Learning Skills," looks to better understand the relationship between mindfulness, feedback literacy, and stress and to use this understanding to develop resources that support wellness and the ability to learn from feedback in school, work, and life for future success. The project builds upon the team's prior IDI grant that supported the development of an asynchronous module of six, 30-minute lessons, called "Mindfulness and Feedback Literacy." This module can be offered as a resource on OWL and is now being offered in 11 courses across campus.
Two Western Law professors awarded SSHRC Insight Development Grant
Professors Francesco Ducci and Alan Miller received an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for their project, “Economic competition and political power."
SSHRC Insight Development Grant to fund age-restrictions/variations in several policy areas
Professor Andrew Botterell — along with Alissa Koski (McGill), Daniel Marc Weinstock (McGill), Monica Ruiz-Casares (McGill), Samantha Brennan (University of Guelph), Vardit Ravitsky (Université de Montréal) — received a SSHRC Insight Development Grant for their project about the justification for age-restrictions/age-variations in various policy areas (voting, health care, etc.). The project application “The Age Gate: Critical evaluation of the range, consistency, and normative basis of age thresholds in Canadian law and policy” was ranked first in the competition.
Grant to fund student wellness research
Professor Thomas Telfer — along with Christine Bell (Schulich), Cecilia Dong (Pathology), Erin Isings (FIMS), Lisa McCorquodale (Occupational Therapy), and Tracey Ropp (Learning Development and Success) — received a $34,700 grant from Western's Interdisciplinary Development Initiative. Their project, titled "Focus and feedback: An interdisciplinary approach to supporting student wellness through mindfulness and feedback literacy," aims to uncover the effects an interdisciplinary approach to wellness could have on students.
Canadian Tax Foundation grant supports Western Law professor
Professor Colin Campbell and Robert Raizenne (McGill) received a $49,050 grant from the Canadian Tax Foundation for two volumes of the History of Income Tax in Canada. The first volume will be published jointly by the Foundation and the Osgoode Society in early 2022.
Two Western Law professors receive SSHRC Success Open Program grants
Professors Andrew Botterell and Martin Petrin were each awarded funding as part of the Western Strategic Support for SSHRC Success Open Program in late 2021. Botterell received $18,791 for his project titled “Diminished Responsibility, Voluntariness, and FASD,” and Petrin received $22,446 for his project titled “Reconceptualizing the Corporation in Light of New Technologies."
Two Western Law professors awarded Insight Development Grant
Professors Jacob Shelley and Claire Houston received an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for their project, “Clarifying the best interests standard in children's medical decision making: Toward a consistent and reliable guide for practice."
Lieber Prize awarded to Western Law Professor
Western Law Professor Ryan Liss won the Lieber Prize, which is awarded by the Lieber Society of the American Society of International Law to one book and one article each year deemed exceptional on the law of armed conflict. This reward was in recognition of his article, "Crimes Against the Sovereign Order: Rethinking International Criminal Justice," which was recently published in the American Journal of International Law.
Research grant supports updates to major Tort law book
Five Western Law professors (Stephen Pitel, Erika Chamberlain, Andrew Botterell, Jason Neyers, Zoe Sinel) and one University of Alberta professor (Mitchell McInnes) have been awarded a $6,800 grant to support the preparation and publication of the fourth edition of Fridman’s The Law of Torts in Canada, a leading Canadian private law treatise frequently cited by courts in Canada and abroad. The book will be published by Thomson Reuters and is expected to be released in late fall 2020.
Grant supports conference on bankruptcy and insolvency law
A new grant awarded to two Western Law professors will support a conference to mark the 100th anniversary of the Bankruptcy Act 1919 – the forerunner of Canada’s modern bankruptcy and insolvency regime – and to formulate reform proposals for the future. Read more.
Grant to examine rights of transgender children
Professor Claire Houston has received a $6,800 Western University Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Explore Grant for her project, “Respecting and Protecting Trans and Gender Non-conforming Children.” Read more.
Research project examines Trans Mountain Expansion debate
Wade Wright is the recipient of the 2019 Dean’s Research Fellowship for his project, “Democracy and Dissent in Canada’s Federal System: Lessons from the Interprovincial Pipeline Debate.” Read more.
Grants supports study of private law doctrinal 'revolution'
A SSHRC Insight Grant of $79,029, awarded to Western Law Professor Rande Kostal and Dean Erika Chamberlain in 2018, will fund research to explore the roots of the swift and dramatic transformation of Canadian private law beginning around 1970. Read more.
Research project to focus on the Administrative State
Professor Kate Berger has been awarded $23,144 from Western’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Board for her project, “The Administrative State in Canada’s Constitutional Order.”
Grant supports research on carbon pricing legal framework
Western Law Professor Chi Carmody has been awarded a grant of $43,500 from the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario for the project, “Mapping the Legal Framework of Carbon Pricing under the Western Climate Initiative". Read more.
Grant supports ‘transformational’ power of blockchain technology in the tax world
Professor Jennifer Farrell has been awarded a Western Social Sciences and Humanities Review Board (SSHRB) seed grant of $21,292 for her project, “Blockchain and taxation: A case study on eliminating the sales tax gap.” Read more.
Teaching Fellowship to promote mental health and mindfulness
Professor Thomas Telfer has been instrumental in promoting the importance of mindfulness education for student wellness and now a new fellowship will enable him to further his leadership in this area.Beginning May 1, 2018, Telfer will be the Teaching Fellow in the Faculty of Law for a three-year term. Read more.
New Fellowships support faculty research
Professors Kate Glover and Jacob Shelley are the recipients of the inaugural Western Law Dean's Research Fellowships. The Fellowships, valued at $10,000 each, were established by Dean Erika Chamberlain to enhance the faculty’s research program. Read more.
Western Law professors garner SSHRC grant success
Three significant Social Sciences and Humanities Research (SSHRC) grants awarded to five Faculty members will help expand scholarship in the areas of private law, torts, and indigenous law. Read more.
Michael Coyle wins SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant
Western Law professor Michael Coyle has received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant in the amount of $24, 986 to conduct research into Indigenous systems of law. Coyle, Western Law’s Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, was the only law scholar in Canada to receive such a grant on the issue of Indigenous laws. Read more.
SSHRC Grant funds IP workshop
Professor Margaret Ann Wilkinson has been awarded, as co-applicant, a $22,270 SSHRC Connection grant. She shares the grant with Prof. Mistrale Goudreau (Ottawa-Civil Law). This new grant will support the 2017 Canadian Intellectual Property Scholars' Workshop being held in Ottawa May 9-10 -- a workshop that flows from themes of the four-year SSHRC Grant Professors Goudreau and Wilkinson have been working together under since 2016. Read more.
Valerie Oosterveld named Faculty Scholar
Professor Valerie Oosterveld has been named Western Law’s Faculty Scholar for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years. The Faculty Scholar award recognizes sustained excellence in all scholarly activities. Read more.
UN Women grant to examine international sexual violence prosecutions
Professor Valerie Oosterveld has been awarded a $37,000 grant by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women). She is leading a team which aims to draw lessons from the prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence at an international criminal tribunal known as the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Read more.
Oosterveld to focus on gender crimes in SSHRC Partnership Grant
Associate Dean Valerie Oosterveld is part of a 22-person team of leading Canadian academics and non-governmental actors awarded a $2.5 million Partnership Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). The project, which will run for the next five years, aims to strengthen justice for victims of international crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Read more.
SSHRC grant supports Intellectual Property law research
Professors Margaret Ann Wilkinson of Western Law (pictured left) and Mistrale Goudreau (Ottawa Faculty of Law – Civil Law Section) are receiving $109,374 from SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada) to support four years of research into “The Prism of Corporate Culture and the Protection of Inventions and Data.” Read more.
Fulbright Scholar honour awarded to Christopher Nicholls
Western Law professor Christopher Nicholls has been selected as a 2016-17 Fulbright Scholar and will be a visiting professor at the Harvard Law School for the upcoming fall term. The Canada-US Fulbright Scholar Awards enable outstanding Canadian scholars to lecture and/or conduct research in the United States. Read more.
Fellowship to explore indigenous economic justice
Brenda Young, Community Justice Director for the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, will join Western Law for the 2016-17 academic term to focus on understanding and improving access to justice for Indigenous Peoples. Young is the recipient of The Law Foundation of Ontario’s Community Leadership in Justice Fellowship (CLJF). Read more.
Michael Lynk named UN Special Rapporteur
The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council has appointed Western Law associate professor Michael Lynk Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967for a six-year term beginning May 1. Read more.
WADA taps Richard McLaren to head Sochi Olympics investigation team
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Sir Craig Reedie has appointed Western University's Richard H. McLaren as the independent person heading an investigation team tasked with probing doping allegations related to 2014 Sochi Olympics. Read more.
New foundation grants support legal research
New grants from two different foundations will help further the research of two Western Law professors. Read more.
Prof. Richard McLaren named to Order of Canada
Western Law professor and alumnus Richard McLaren LLB’71, has been awarded one of Canada’s highest civilian honours. Governor General David Johnston named McLaren an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30. Read more.
Sara Seck lauded for her environmental law research
Sara Seck has been awarded the prestigious Emerging Scholar award by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Academy of Environmental Law. Read more.
Nicholls named Beattie Chair in Corporate Law
Western Law professor Christopher Nicholls (pictured left) has been appointed The W. Geoff Beattie Chair in Corporate Law effective July 1, 2015. Read more.
Sara Seck appointed Senior Fellow to research impact of climate change
The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Western Law professor Sara Seck as Senior Fellow with its International Law Research Program. Read more.
Neyers honoured with Faculty Scholar award
Professor Jason Neyers has been named Western Law’s Faculty Scholar for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 academic periods. This campus-wide award recognizes significant achievements in teaching or research. Read more.
Michael Lynk named to Mayor of London Honours List
Law professor Michael Lynk topped the list of honorees when London Mayor Matt Brown released the annual Mayor of London Honours List on Jan. 1. Read more.
Richard McLaren recipient of Huron Alumni Award of Distinction
Western Law professor Richard McLaren was the 2014 recipient of Huron College’s Alumni Award of Distinction. The award is presented for outstanding achievement in a professional field and community service, enriching the lives of others through generous gifts of time and talent. Read more.
Oosterveld named inaugural member of Royal Society’s ‘College'
Western Law professor Valerie Oosterveld has been named among 91 inaugural members of the Royal Society of Canada’s (RSC) College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Those named to the College represent the emerging generation of scholarly, scientific and artistic leadership in Canada. Read more.
Nicholls appointed Research Fellow at U.S.-based think tank
Western Law professor Christopher Nicholls has joined a distinguished advisory group of academic, nonprofit and financial services leaders. Nicholls has been appointed a research fellow at The Filene Research Institute, a U.S.-based nonprofit independent think tank for the consumer finance industry. Read more.
Professor Robert Solomon awarded Distinguished University Professorship
During his exemplary 40 years at Western, Robert Solomon has achieved a synthesis of teaching, research and service that Western Law Dean Iain Scott called “virtually unmatched.” His impressive career has now been honoured with the 2013 Distinguished University Professorship. The award honours faculty who have built a record of excellence in the areas of teaching, research and service over a substantial career at Western. Read more.
Stephen Pitel wins OCUFA teaching award
Prof. Stephen Pitel is a recipient of the prestigious Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Teaching and Academic Librarianship Award. “As noted by his nominators, Professor Pitel’s work has transformed legal education at Western and across Ontario,” said Kate Lawson, President of OCUFA. “He has pioneered the teaching of ethics and professionalism, ensuring that Ontario’s young lawyers understand their responsibilities and professional obligations. Read more.
Prof. Tom Telfer awarded Canadian Insolvency Foundation Fellowship
The Canadian Insolvency Foundation’s Lloyd Houlden Memorial Research Fellowship was presented to Western Law professor Tom Telfer at a conference of the Canadian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals held in Toronto this past May.The $20,000 Fellowship, named after the late Hon. Lloyd Houlden, Q.C., a distinguished former Justice of the Ontario Court of Appeal, supports research for a paper that addresses current issues in Canadian insolvency policy and practice. Read more.
