I am pleased to announce that Dr. Laura Spitz, JSD, has been appointed dean of the University of Calgary Faculty of Law for a renewable term of five years, effective July 1, 2025.
An experienced legal scholar and leader, Spitz joins the University of Calgary from Seattle University where most recently she served as vice-provost for global engagement.
Laura Spitz
With legal expertise in areas of contracts, commercial and business law, and corporate social responsibility, Spitz's most recent scholarship has focused on the role law plays in the construction of legal personhood in both corporate and environmental law.
She has held various academic leadership positions throughout her career including vice-provost for international affairs at Cornell University and associate dean for international affairs at Cornell Law School. Immediately prior to joining Seattle University, Spitz was the Carl Hatch Endowed Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico and she regularly teaches as a visiting professor at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne Law School. In addition to her academic experience, she practiced law for several years in the Vancouver office of Miller Thomson LLP.
Spitz holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia, and a Doctorate in Law from Cornell University. She has published many articles and book chapters, co-edited the book Law, Vulnerability and the Responsive State: Beyond Equality and Liberty with Martha Fineman, and contributed to several factums and briefs before the Supreme Courts of Canada and the United States.
A robust search was conducted to find the best possible candidate to serve as the next dean of the Faculty of Law. I would like to extend my appreciation to the members of the advisory selection committee that I chaired for the time they dedicated to this important search. They are: Katrina Milaney (VP Research representative), Bryce Tingle (tenured academic staff representative), Gideon Christian (tenured academic staff representative), Michael Ilg (tenured academic staff representative), Elizabeth Whitsitt (tenured academic staff representative), Tavis Campbell (Faculty Association of the University of Calgary representative), John Brown (Decanal representative), Marian Georgy (MaPS representative), Hilary Neatby (Alberta Union of Public Employees representative), Safaa Al-Khaz'Aly (Student's Union representative), Hunter Yaworski (Graduate Students' Association representative), Juilet Guichon (General Faculties Council representative), Nick Turner (General Faculties Council representative), Pat Maguire (community representative), and Sameera Sereda (community representative).
I also want to thank Dr. Evaristus Oshionebo, PhD, for his leadership of the Faculty of Law over the past year as interim dean. Oshionebo worked collaboratively with Dr. Ellen Perrault to help support an historic $26.8-million gift from the Alberta Law Foundation to establish a new Centre for Transformation at UCalgary. This unique partnership between law and social work is focused on improving outcomes for families involved in the family justice system.
Thank you so much, Dr. Oshionebo, for your commitment to serving the law, our students and our university.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Spitz on her new role and welcoming her to the University of Calgary.
Sandra Davidson, PhD, MSN, RN, FAAN, FCAN
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
