University Professor, former Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School (1972-77) and President of York University (1985-92), Harry Arthurs has also been an academic visitor at Oxford, Cambridge and University College, London. He has served as Commissioner reviewing Canada’s labour standards legislation (2004-2006) and as Commissioner reviewing Ontario’s pension legislation (2006-2008).

Arthurs’ publications range widely over the areas of legal education and the legal profession, legal history and legal theory, labour and administrative law, globalization and - in recent years - constitutionalism. His academic contributions have been recognized by his election as an Associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. In 2002, he was awarded the Canada Council’s Killam Prize for his lifetime contributions to the social sciences as well as the Bora Laskin Prize for his contributions to labour law.

Arthurs has been an arbitrator and mediator in labour disputes, has conducted inquiries and reviews at Canadian and American universities, and has provided advice to governments on a number of issues ranging from higher education policy to the constitution to labour and employment law. He has also served as a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada, member of the Economic Council of Canada and President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. He is a member of both the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario and holds numerous honorary degrees.