Martha Shaffer receives Mewett Teaching Award

The University of Toronto Faculty of Law Class of 2024 has given Professor Martha Shaffer the Mewett Teaching Award, presented annually to a faculty member for excellence in teaching.

Shaffer last received this teaching honour in 2021 and was again chosen to give the send-off speech by a faculty member to the class.

The graduating class recognized Shaffer for her caring and inclusive learning environment. She was not only committed to ensuring students grasped complex legal concepts, but also valuing and encouraging them throughout their law school journey.

Widely regarded as an inspired and dedicated instructor, Shaffer teaches criminal law, evidence law and legal methods, and has taught family law as well as courses on cultural diversity and gender issues. She writes in the areas of family and criminal law, with a focus on gender, violence against women, and on the use of social science evidence to inform legal reasoning. She holds law degrees from Harvard and U of T.

“Thank you, Class of 2024, for honouring me with the Mewett Award and with the opportunity to say a few words of hail and farewell as you leave the law faculty,” Shaffer said.

“You are a remarkable group of people: smart, talented, caring and engaged. It has been a privilege to have gotten to know you during your time at U of T.”