Dear CIRHR Community,
This past summer has been one of innumerable accomplishments for our students, alumni, faculty and friends. As we embark on a new academic year, I can think of no better way to kick things off than with gratitude and congratulations, beginning with our most recent doctoral recipient.
MILESTONES
I’m thrilled to report that Shannon Potter (now Dr. Shannon Potter) has successfully defended her dissertation on the dynamics and interactions of unions in Canada, which her thesis advisor, Professor Dionne Pohler, aptly describes as “highly original” and a “major intellectual contribution.” We offer Shannon our deepest congratulations. Please do stay tuned for an upcoming Centre profile on this milestone, Shannon's work, and what’s next for her.
I’d also like to extend my congratulations to Assistant Professor, Alejandra González Jiménez, whom this past summer received the University of Toronto - Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Centre for the Study of the United States 2024-25 Faculty Research Award. Her project, “The Automotive City: Fragments of Free Trade,” examines Mexico’s car economy to critically interrogate the contradictions and dissonances constituting the North American geo-economic region.
We are also celebrating our Fall 2024 MIRHR graduates, who will be crossing the stage to receive their hard-earned degrees on October 30th at 10am. Be on the lookout for a future announcement with a full list of graduates, including the recipient of our Fall 2024 Frank Reid Prize which is awarded to the graduating MIRHR student with the highest GPA.
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
I’m very pleased to recognize Professors Padraic Scanlan and Santiago Campero who have been awarded 2024 Insight Development Grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). It’s incredibly gratifying to know that the Research Council shares our belief in the importance of our Faculty’s work, including Padraic’s focus on “Peasants of Industry: Subsistence Farming, Capitalism and Agroecology in Ireland, 1800-1850,” and Santiago’s focus on “Startup Firm Growth and Racial Discrimination in Hiring.”
Also deserving of recognition is alumna, Xiaolu (Luna) Li, the recipient of a three-year SSHRC doctoral fellowship to conduct research into workplace AI and data governance, and PhD Student, Milad Moghaddas, the 2024-25 recipient of the Vivienne Poy Chancellor's Fellowship in the Humanities and Social Sciences (OSOTF) which is awarded on the basis of academic merit to a master’s or PhD student in the humanities or social sciences at the Faculty of Arts & Science. We spoke with Milad about this fellowship and what it means to him – you can read what he had to say on our CIRHR website.
FALL EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
We're very excited to report that, this October, the National Assembly on Workplace Democracy will begin its work in earnest, and we hope to offer some of our students and faculty "observation status" to sit-in on the proceedings and possibly meet some of the participants -- more on that soon!
In November, we also look forward to celebrating the establishment of the United Steelworkers/Leo Gerard Chair in Collective Bargaining and Worker Representation, which recognizes the role of the USW in its representation of a broad and diverse membership across North America and Leo Gerard’s extraordinary work as its international president from 2001 to 2019.
November will also see the Bora Laskin Award, which recognizing outstanding contributions to Canadian labour law, go to Brian Burkett and Rick Engel at two very special presentation ceremonies.
LEADERSHIP AWARD NOMINATIONS
Last, but certainly not least, I'm putting out a call to our community to help select the worthy recipient of a very important Centre award. Nominations are currently open for The Matt Dowdle Leadership in IRHR Award which was established by the CIRHR in memory of Matt Dowdle (MIR 2004), an alumnus of the MIRHR program who remained actively engaged in service for the CIRHR and was also actively engaged in his professional community.
This award is presented annually to a graduating student from the Master of Industrial Relations and Human Resources program who has displayed qualities of leadership and team building during the course of their studies, or to an alumnus of this program who has displayed these qualities within their professional career. If you would like to submit a nomination, please direct your letters to director.cirhr@utoronto.ca.
To all members of our CIRHR family, I extend a very emphatic thank you for your kindness, your rigor, your contributions – to both the Centre and academic scholarship – and for your friendship. I’m so incredibly proud and grateful to be a part of this community, and each of your milestones and accomplishments adds fuel to yet another year of excellence. Congratulations to all, and looking forward to all the successes to come.
Best,
Rafael
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Dr. Rafael Gomez, Professor
Director, Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
University of Toronto