Cassels appointed to second term

Cassels

Jamie Cassels, UVic's vice president academic and provost since 2001, has been reappointed to a new five year term after a unanimous recommendation by a 16-member review committee and a 95 per cent vote of approval in a ratification ballot by faculty members.

The reappointment was confirmed by the university's board of governors on Feb. 24 and is effective July 1, 2006.

After collecting feedback from internal and external constituents, the review committee concluded that Cassels is a "superb leader and facilitator," motivated by an "unwavering desire to improve the quality of the broader learning environment for all students, faculty and staff," and who has "demonstrated the capacity to take a principled approach to tough issues and exhibits exceptional integrity and fairness."

"The university is indeed fortunate to have an academic leader as strong, enthusiastic and capable as Jamie Cassels," says UVic President David Turpin. "The enthusiastic support for his reappointment is testimony to the respect afforded Prof. Cassels."
The vice president academic and provost is responsible for academic leadership and the fiscal management of academic programs and initiatives of the university.

"I've always been proud of our accomplishments at UVic, but the last four or five years have been particularly transformative," says Cassels. "We've been joined by about 200 extraordinarily talented new faculty members. We've created new programs of teaching and research of the highest quality. Our student body is increasingly diverse and engaged, and our national reputation has grown steadily. It's a real honour to be part of this."

Cassels joined UVic as a member of the faculty of law in 1981 and served as dean from 1999 to 2001. An accomplished scholar and teacher, he won the Canadian Association of Law Teachers Award for Academic Excellence for his research and teaching in 1999, and the prestigious national 3M Teaching Fellowship for teaching excellence and educational leadership in 2002. He has also won the law faculty's master teaching award twice (1986 and 1996) and the UVic Alumni Association's Excellence in Teaching Award (1998).

Cassels holds a BA in law and philosophy from Carleton University, an LL.B (bachelor of law) from the University of Western Ontario and an LL.M (master of law) from Columbia University. His areas of teaching and research include contracts, legal theory, and remedies. Other interests include environmental issues, law and society in India, and race and gender issues in the law of tort.

Cassels is the author of several books, including The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal and Remedies: The Law of Damages. His new book, The Law of Large Scale Claims: Product Liability, Mass Torts and Complex Litigation in Canada, will be published this month.

He was named Queen's Counsel in 2004 in recognition of his contributions to the legal profession.