Hat trick for Jérémy Boulanger-Bonnelly, new Durnford Award winner
The Faculty of Law is pleased to announce that Jérémy Boulanger-Bonnelly has received the 2023 John W. Durnford Award for Teaching Excellence.
Named in honour of the late professor and former dean John W. Durnford (BCL'52), and conferred by students, this award each year recognizes a law professor’s exceptional pedagogy.
He will receive the award during the Law Convocation ceremony on 31 May.
Student nominations lauded Boulanger-Bonnelly’s outstanding dedication to ensuring his students understood the class materials, as well as his friendly and approachable personality. “His teaching is crystal clear, and superbly structured,” one student remarked. “He encourages lively and constructive debate in class by not making his own views known, but rather by making sure all feel welcome to participate,” another highlighted.
Jérémy Boulanger-Bonnelly joined the Faculty of Law as a Boulton Junior Fellow in January 2023 and will transition to assistant professor on 1 August 2023. He is completing his doctoral studies at the University of Toronto as a Vanier scholar and Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau Foundation scholar. Passionate about access to justice, he adopts a comparative approach to explore the many facets of that issue. His current projects focus, for example, on the role of public participation in improving access to justice, particularly through lay courts.
Beyond the classroom, his extraordinary commitment to volunteer and pro bono work earned him two other awards this spring.
The McGill Alumni Association (MAA) presented him with the James G. Wright award, in recognition of his commitment to community service. The MAA highlighted his pro bono work as counsel in the constitutional challenges of Quebec’s Act respecting the laicity of the State (Bill 21), and of articles of the Civil Code of Québec affecting trans youth.
In April, Boulanger-Bonnelly received the Prix Hommage Bénévolat-Québec of the Government of Québec for his extraordinary contribution as board member of Interligne, a front-line centre for help and information for people affected by sexual diversity and gender diversity.
“I’m proud to see one of our newest colleagues so strongly embody pedagogical excellence and dedication to public service, two core values of the Faculty of Law,” said Dean Robert Leckey, Ad E. “I look forward to Jérémy Boulanger-Bonnelly’s continued contributions to our community.”
