Helge Dedek, Frédéric Mégret, and Colleen Sheppard named to prestigious research chairs
The Faculty of Law is delighted to announce the appointment of three professors to endowed research chairs.
Professor Helge Dedek was named to the Wainwright Chair in Civil Law, held most recently by former dean Daniel Jutras, OC, Ad E.
Professor Frédéric Mégret was named to the Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law, of which the inaugural chairholder was François Crépeau, OC, OQ, FRSC, Ad E.
Professor Colleen Sheppard, FRSC, was named to the FR Scott Chair in Public & Constitutional Law, held most recently by Mark Walters and before that by former dean the late Roderick Macdonald, OC, FRSC.
The new chairholders were appointed for seven-year terms, beginning on 1 September 2023.
A full professor, Helge Dedek teaches and conducts research in comparative and transnational legal history, comparative law, private law, and legal theory. Since 2014, he has been the co-editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Comparative Law, the world’s leading publication dedicated to comparative law. An outstanding pedagogue, he received the John W Durnford Award for Teaching Excellence in 2021.
Frédéric Mégret is a full professor and William Dawson Scholar. He was named co-director of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism in 2021. From 2006 to 2015, he held the Canada Research Chair on the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. The University of Copenhagen presented him with an honorary doctorate in 2022, calling him “one of the most influential scholars in international law of his generation.”
Colleen Sheppard is recognized as one of Canada’s leading constitutional and human rights legal scholars. A full professor, her teaching and research focus on systemic discrimination, equality rights, mental health in the workplace, Canadian and comparative constitutional law, and feminist legal theory. A pioneer of the legal conceptions of equality and non-discrimination, she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2016.
“These richly merited appointments will support our colleagues’ world-class scholarship for years to come,” said Dean Robert Leckey, Ad E. “Through their research and teaching, deeply informed by our distinctive integrated approach, our new chairs will undoubtedly make invaluable contributions to our Faculty’s vibrant intellectual life.”