York University will honour two esteemed faculty members during its 2023 Spring Convocation with a Distinguished Research Professorship and a University Professorship.
A Distinguished Research Professor is a member of faculty who has made outstanding contributions to the University through research and whose work is recognized within and outside of the University, and this year will recognize Professor Carl James. He will receive the honour during the Faculty of Education convocation ceremony on Friday, June 16.
A University Professor is a member of faculty recognized for extraordinary contributions to scholarship and teaching and participation in university life, and this year will celebrate the work of Professor Marcia Annisette. She will receive the honour during the Schulich School of Business convocation ceremony on Friday, June 23.
In accordance with the Senate Policy on Honorific Professorships, the committee may select up to two recipients each year up to a maximum of 30 active University Professors and 30 active Distinguished Research Professors.
Distinguished Research Professor – Carl James, Faculty of Education
Carl James is a professor in the Faculty of Education with cross-appointments in the graduate programs in sociology, social and political thought, and social work. He holds the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora and is also senior advisor on equity and representation in the Office of the Vice-President of Equity, People and Culture.
Nominator Lisa Farley, associate dean, research in the Faculty of Education, wrote that James is “an outstanding, highly sought-after scholar by a wide range of stakeholders inside and outside of York: national and international scholarly associations, community partners, graduate students, public media and universities that regard his expert knowledge as paramount to actioning their own objectives.”
James is widely recognized for his research contributions in the areas of intersectionality of race with ethnicity, gender, class and citizenship as they shape identification/identity; the ways in which accessible and equitable opportunities in education and employment account for the lived experiences of marginalized community members; and the complementary and contradictory nature of sports in the schooling and educational attainments of racialized students. In advocating on education for change, James documents the struggles, contradictions and paradoxes in the experiences of racialized students at all levels of the education system. In doing so, he seeks to address and move us beyond the essentialist, generalized and homogenizing discourses that account for the representation and achievements of racialized people – particularly Black Canadians – in educational institutions, workplaces, and society generally.
“I am very appreciative of this honour and for the recognition that all have shown – especially Lisa Farley – for my contributions over the years,” said James of receiving the honour. “And as I have always said, I am grateful to everyone – colleagues, students, family members, friends, research respondents and community members – for supporting me over the years. For afterall, through these supports, I have attained these accomplishments.”
His contributions to the field and the high quality of his work are underlined by his strong publication record, with 12 authored or co-authored books, 12 edited books, 81 book chapters, 40 referred journal articles, 32 reports, and a good number of policy interventions over the past 30 years. Many of these works are recognized as groundbreaking and continue to be relevant today. James has had immense success in securing external research funding from a diversity of funding agencies, and, in the last six years alone, he has secured over $6 million in funding as the principal investigator (PI), co-PI or project lead.
James is the recipient of numerous institutional, national and international awards, including the Killam Prize in the Social Sciences in 2022, the President’s Research Impact Award in 2021, and Fellow, Royal Society of Canada – Academy of Social Sciences in 2012. James has also been recognized with many community awards, including Outstanding Service to Canadian Black Scientists in 2023, Lifetime Achievement Award of Excellence from the Ontario Alliance of Black Educators in 2019, and the Professional Excellence Award, Harry Jerome Award from Black Business & Professional Association in 2013.
University Professor – Marcia Annisette, Schulich School of Business
Marcia Annisette is a professor of accounting at York University’s Schulich School of Business. She previously served as associate dean, students and director of Schulich’s Master of Accounting program, and was previously the School’s associate dean, academic. Nominated by Schulich Dean Detlev Zwick, Annisette is noted for having made extraordinary contributions to the University through her service, teaching and research.
With contributions dating back more than 15 years, Annisette is noted for her role as area coordinator (equivalent to department Chair) in the accounting area from 2007 to 2010, where she played an active role in curriculum development, recruitment and mentoring of junior faculty and staffing of courses. Following her term as area coordinator, Annisette began to work on developing the Master of Accounting (MAcc) program and became its director in 2013 with the official launch of the program.
“Her effectiveness in leading and reshaping Schulich’s activities in accounting is one of the many reasons why I consider her so worthy of the University Professorship,” says Zwick in his nomination letter.
With respect to the service roles she has taken on at the faculty level – including associate dean, students and associate dean, academic – Zwick notes that Annisette “has demonstrated an ability to be a constructive and creative administrator who consistently goes well beyond the basic requirements of the role.”
“It is an honour to be awarded the University Professorship. Academic service has given me the privilege to work with the most talented and committed faculty and staff at Schulich and across the University,” says Annisette. “This rich variety of high-quality encounters has only served to enhance my own effectiveness as a teacher and as a scholar. I am particularly indebted to Schulich Dean Emeritus Dezso Horvath and Dean Detlev Zwick for giving me the opportunity and privilege to serve.”
The nomination was supported by Faculty of Education Professor Carl James, who noted her participation as a faculty associate of the Jean Augustine Chair in Education Community & Diaspora and as an administration representative of the Joint Committee of Affirmative Action (JCAA). She has also served as a senator and a member of the Senate Executive Committee.
Annisette regularly publishes in top-tier journals in her field and several of her papers have won awards. Her major research interest is in the social organization of the accountancy profession. In particular, her research seeks to understand the strategies deployed by professional accounting bodies to differentiate themselves and achieve monopoly or elite status in the market for expert accounting labour. Her research has an international breath and includes studies of the profession in Ireland, England, Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. Her research is also historically and sociological informed and specifically looks at the manner in which national bases of social exclusion such as religion, social class, race, nationality or immigration status, interact with professional structures to achieve professional closure.
In 2018 she was appointed editor-in-chief of Accounting Organizations and Society, the top tier academic journal for interdisciplinary research in accounting, and serves on the editorial board of 13 other academic accounting journals.
For a full list of convocation ceremonies, visit this website.
Article originally published in the June 14, 2023 issue of Yfile