Keynote Speaker

 

Chad Gaffield, Professor of History, taught at McGill University and the University of Victoria before coming to the University of Ottawa in 1985. He has held a University Research Chair and was the founding director of the Institute of Canadian Studies. Gaffield is a former president of the Canadian Historical Association and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences.

 

In his publications, Gaffield has analyzed the ways demographic, economic and cultural changes influence, and are influenced by, institutional and political history. Most recently, he was Principal Investigator of the Canadian Century Research Infrastructure project, a multi-institutional and interdisciplinary initiative that has enabled geo-referenced and contextually-documented research on the 1911-1951 censuses. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, he received the society’s J.B. Tyrrell Medal in 2004 for his outstanding contribution to the study of Canada. In 2007, the Canadian Association of University Teachers presented him with its Distinguished Academic Award in recognition of excellence in teaching, research and service to the community. The University of Ottawa named him Researcher of Year in 1995 and Professor of the Year in 2002, only the second time that a professor has been chosen for both awards. Gaffield has also been honoured with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, received an honorary doctorate from Thompson Rivers University in 2007, and was the recipient of the 2008 Prix de la francophonie de l’Ontario.

 

Chad Gaffield received his BA and MA from McGill University, and his PhD from the University of Toronto. He was appointed president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) on September 18, 2006.