The University of Toronto President’s Impact Awards celebrate and honour faculty members whose research has led to significant impact beyond academia. Professor Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) has been recognized for the profound impact that he has made on issues relating to the relationship between Indigenous Peoples in the Settler State, which have contributed to advancing Indigenous rights at the University, in the Province of Ontario, and throughout Canada.
Professor Sanderson is a scholar and teacher of legal aspects of the relationship between Indigenous Peoples in the Settler State. In his scholarship and public engagement, he has made significant contributions to matters of equity, diversity, and inclusion both within the University and outside it, and to supporting reconciliation efforts and the struggle against all forms of discrimination.
Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Professor Sanderson was pivotal in the 2006 overhaul of Ontario’s Human Rights Adjudication System, where he played a key role in developing a means for redress for victims of discrimination in the province. Professor Sanderson’s work on issues of human rights always meets the highest academic and legal standards. At the same time, his approach to questions is shaped by the ways in which injustices perpetrated against Indigenous Peoples, including Indian residential schools, and enforced foster care, have affected the lives of people close to him. His ability to combine scholarly, legal, and personal perspectives, as well as his ability to communicate to a wide variety of audiences have made him a central figure in advancing Indigenous rights at the University, in the Province of Ontario, and throughout Canada.
Professor Sanderson’s impact has been transformative. He has published outstanding and influential scholarly work on issues related to human rights; equity, diversity, and inclusion; and he has made significant contributions at the community and system level with significant impact beyond academia.
