I am pleased to announce that the Governing Council has approved the appointment of Professor Kelly Hannah-Moffat as Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity for a five-year term effective October 1, 2016 and continuing until September 30, 2021.

Professor Hannah-Moffat is a distinguished scholar and an experienced academic administrator.  Her academic work and her involvement with numerous government and community agencies demonstrate a deep commitment to social justice and equity.

Professor Kelly Hannah-Moffat joined the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) in 1999 and is cross-appointed to the Centre of Criminology and Sociolegal Studies. She served as Acting Department Chair, Sociology at UTM (2006-07) and Department Chair, Sociology at UTM (2008-11), prior to being appointed Vice-Dean, Undergraduate (UTM) in 2011. In 2013, she was appointed Director of the Centre of Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, a role she fulfilled concurrently with her vice-decanal role. Most recently, she has served as Interim Dean and Acting Vice-Principal, UTM, while also serving as Advisor to the Provost and Vice President Human Resources & Equity on Sexual Violence and Crisis Services at the University of Toronto.

Professor Hannah-Moffat has an undergraduate degree in Sociology and Legal Studies from the University of Waterloo and is a double graduate of the University of Toronto with an MA and a PhD in Criminology. While completing her PhD, she worked as a policy advisor for Madame Justice Arbour on the Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston. Professor Hannah-Moffat served on the Board of the Elizabeth Fry Society for eight years, including several years as President. She has served as an expert witness and has contributed to numerous local, provincial, national, and international committees and commissions.

Professor Hannah-Moffat has made important contributions to criminology, sociology, and legal issues. Her interdisciplinary research on criminal records disclosures, risk, punishment, and marginalized and diverse populations has contributed to the advancement of knowledge in sociology, criminology, law and social justice, and penal history. Her work has concrete implications for social and criminal justice policy change and institutional/legal reform. In addition to attracting national and international attention from academics and the judiciary, her groundbreaking research has informed the work of governmental agencies including the Western Australian Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Civil Liberties Associations, the Correctional Service of Canada, the Department of Justice Canada, the National Parole Board, and the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

She has published articles and books on risk theory, punishment, penal change, gender and diversity, procedural fairness in specialized courts and criminal justice decision-making. Her research has traced the historical and conceptual antecedents of gender based punishment, the unintended outcomes of liberal and formal rights-based penal reform agendas, international conventions and minimum rights standards, and the structural challenges to prisoners’ ability to exercise human rights while in custody. Her research also examines the application of actuarially based risk models in various segments of the criminal justice system and sentencing.  Her work was among the first international studies to document how practitioners assess risk and need in applied settings and to underscore the importance of looking at risk as a gendered and racialized phenomenon. Professor Hannah-Moffat’s seminal research on risk and social justice has made significant contributions to human rights, policy, and jurisprudential debates, and examines the response to a range of social problems including sentencing, parole and correctional treatment.

In 2001, Professor Hannah-Moffat received the Radzinowicz Memorial Prize for the best article published in the British Journal of Criminology. She is currently a Connaught Research Fellow, the co-editor of Punishment and Society, and member of the Editorial Advisory Board for British Journal of Criminology, Theoretical Criminology and Canadian Journal of Criminology.

I look forward to having Professor Hannah-Moffat join the vice-presidential team.  Please join me in congratulating her on her appointment.

At this time, I am also pleased to report that Professor Angela Hildyard, our current Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity, has graciously and generously agreed to an extension of her term to September 30, 2016. The Governing Council has approved this extension. There will be a formal opportunity to recognize Professor Hildyard’s numerous and impressive contributions over the course of her lengthy tenure as Vice-President but at this time I would like to express my deep appreciation for her role in ensuring a smooth transition.