Lorna Marsden

Biography:

LORNA MARSDEN is a leading Canadian feminist, sociologist, and university administrator. She is the former President and Vice-Chancellor of both Wilfrid Laurier University and York University, and a former member of the Senate of Canada.

Marsden became an active feminist and began her academic career in the early 1970s. She joined the Ontario Committee on the Status of Women in 1971 and served as the third president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (1975-77). Marsden became a professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto in 1972, served there for 20 years in various roles that included Associate Dean of the Graduate School and the Vice-Provost (Arts and Sciences).

In 1984, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau appointed Marsden to the Senate of Canada. There she served on and chaired the Committee on Social Affairs and was vice-chair of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association. In 1992 Marsden left the Senate to became President and Vice-Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University (1992-1997), and then President and Vice-Chancellor of York University (1997-2007).

In collaboration with Beth Atcheson, Marsden wrote her latest book: White Gloves Off! The Work of the Ontario Committee on the Status of Women (in the Feminist History Society series, Second Story Press, 2018). She is also the author of Canadian Women and the Struggle for Equality (Oxford University Press, 2012), and many other scholarly books, articles and reviews.

Marsden has served on several corporate and not-for-profit boards and was most recently the Chair of the Board of the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. She has received many awards including the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, the Order of Merit (FRG), and six honorary doctorates.

Marsden was born on Vancouver Island and graduated from the University of Toronto (BA, 1967) and Princeton University (PhD, 1972).

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