Life at Massey College
Senior Fellows elected
Sculpture honours distinguished Senior Fellows The annual Welcoming Barbeque during the 2015 Orientation Week last September 11 was particularly special because it provided the opportunity to honour Senior Fellows Ursula Franklin (since deceased) and (posthumously) Boris Stoicheff with the unveiling of “Sanctuary,” a bronze sculpture by Camilla Geary-Martin. After welcoming remarks from Master Hugh Segal, Master Emeritus John Fraser and Professor Henry van Driel of the Department of Physics at the University of Toronto paid tributes to Professors Franklin and Stoicheff. These tributes follow.
Grant Allen Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Louise Arbour Former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for Ontario and a former Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda Jean Augustine Social justice advocate, retired educator, former member of the House of Commons
Anne-Emanuelle Birn Dalla Lana School of Public Health
Dan Breznitz Director, Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs Jill Clark Bursar Emerita
Kenneth Corts Vice-Dean, Faculty and Research, Rotman School of Management
Raymond De Souza Chaplain, Newman House at Queen’s University
George Dei Chair, Department of Sociology and Equity Studies, OISE
Peter Donnelly President and CEO, Public Health Ontario
Lyse Doucet Chief International Correspondent, BBC
Jeffrey Dvorkin Director, Journalism Program
Nora Gillespie Senior Legal Counsel, Office of the Vice-President and Provost /...
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Photography by Anthony Luengo
All academic affiliations are with the University of Toronto unless stated otherwise.
Sculptor Camilla Geary-Martin unveils her work with the help of Master Emeritus John Fraser and Don of Hall Thilo Schaefer.
Master Emeritus John Fraser pays tribute to Professor Ursula Franklin
T
HIS SCULPTURAL REPRESENTATION by Cammie Martin of what I think of as the nurturing earth is dedicated to the Senior Fellowship of Massey College in recognition of the crucial role it plays in the interchange of ideas, idealism, and the mentoring of young minds. Because the sculpture is a sphere, it “faces” the Common Room and all the Junior Fellow residences at the same time, refuge alike to resident and non-resident Junior Fellows, reminding them of the debt they owe Senior Fellows and reminding Senior Fellows of the duty they owe Junior Fellows. I was first taught this dual set of obligations by Professor Ursula Franklin shortly before my election as Master of the College in 1994. She pointed out that the job of anyone elected Master of Massey College – the principal mandate – was to ensure that this bond be protected and strengthened. That is why it is so appropriate that she and Professor Boris Stoicheff have been chosen as the quintessential Senior Fellows we honour today at this ceremony. Elsewhere in the College, you can read about the extraordinary contributions Ursula made to science and the ethics of science, as well as to the role of women in science and within the academy during her long and sometimes tumultuous career. It accompanies the United Nations Pearson Peace Medal she was awarded in 2002. Her amazing career is an achievement grounded in the dreadful experience of surviving Nazi Germany during her youth and of the subsequent haunting realization that science can be used to pervert the better part of
Sapere Aude • Dare to be wise
human endeavour. This made of our Ursula one hell of a fighter and challenger as several university presidents came to realize, but it is also true that she always strived toward justice and the maximum possible freedom to learn and teach, all of which she saw as indivisible. Massey College, at its best, came to represent to Ursula the great possibility of sharing in academic life, sharing among scholars young and old, sharing with the wider world outside the university. Above all, she believes fervently that sharing the burden of dealing with life’s challenges, adversities, and possibilities is what we are all about, or should be about. Here, in our quiet, beautiful Quadrangle and remembered with her colleague Boris, Ursula’s contributions – like his – shine and continue to challenge.
Professor Henry van Driel pays tribute to Professor Boris Stoicheff
B
ORIS STOICHEFF HAD BEEN ASSOCIATED with the University of Toronto for more than 65 years before passing away in 2010. A distinguished optical physicist, he was the advisor of 25 Ph.D. students and the recipient of numerous honours, including being named an Officer of the Order of Canada. Boris’s strong interest in helping graduate students led him to become a Senior Fellow of Massey College early in its history. He devoted tremendous energy to allow Massey to fulfill its scholarly mission, from helping to mentor graduate students to establishing a monthly luncheon gathering for Senior Fellows. However, even with his significant accomplishments, Boris was just as well known for his grace, warmth, and kindness. It is entirely fitting that Massey College should dedicate a sculpture to him and Ursula Franklin, a colleague of more than six decades, and who shared the same high standards of scientific achievement and devotion to students. Photography by Milan Ilnycky
May 2016