Dear members of the department,
It gives me enormous pleasure to announce that our colleague Jonathan Edmondson is this year’s recipient of the Award of Merit by the Classical Association of Canada/ Société Canadienne des Études Classiques. Jonathan received his award at the annual meeting in May. This is the highest honour available in the world of Canadian classics.
I am sharing the citation composed by the members of the Awards Committee.
“Dr Edmondson is a distinguished researcher with an international reputation. He has received several major grants to support his research on Roman Spain, where his work in Augusta Emerita (Mérida) has recently recently earned him special recognition with the award of the “Genio Protector de la Colonia Augusta Emerita”, from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture / National Museum of Roman Art (Museo Nacional de Arte Romano). Dr. Edmondson is a prolific scholar; he has written, co-authored, or edited nine books, and published thirty-two book chapters and more than a dozen articles. He has also made his mark as a speaker both in Canada and abroad by delivering more than one hundred invited lectures and presentations.
Jonathan Edmondson has occupied several key administrative positions in his career at York University, and at every stage has advanced the study of Classics. He has been co-ordinator of the Programme in Classical Studies from 1995 to 1998 and again from 2001 to 2005, and chair of the Department of History from 2009 to 2013, a position from which he raised the profile of the study of ancient history. Dr Edmondson was instrumental in establishing the Collaborative Programme in Ancient History (ColPAH) between the University of Toronto and York, serving as Chair of the Steering Committee to create the Programme in 2003-4. He has also served twice as director of the Programme (2004-2006 and 2008-2010) and as a member of the Steering Committee (2010-12), in addition to supervising the dissertations of several students in the programme.
Jonathan Edmondson has been a dedicated and generous servant of the Classical Association of Canada. He has contributed substantially to the intellectual life of the Association; he has presented fifteen separate research papers at the annual conference, and has twice been the touring Distinguished Lecturer for the CAC: in 1994 he gave a lecture tour of universities in Western Canada, and in 2003 he lectured throughout Atlantic Canada. He has also been an Associate Editor (1989-1997), and then Editor of the Association’s journal Phoenix (1997-2002), since when he has been Editor (2002-2007) and more recently Co-Editor (from 2007) of the Phoenix Supplementary Series. Most notably, Jonathan Edmondson has served successively as Vice-President (2006-2008), President (2008-10), and Past-President (2010-12) of the CAC. Jonathan Edmondson has also supported Classics at the provincial level, serving on the executive board of the Ontario Classical Association from 1996 to 2003. He went on to take the role of Vice President (2003-2004) and President of the Association (2004-6).
As this long list of his accomplishments clearly indicates, Jonathan Edmondson has worked tirelessly and with great success to promote the study of Classics at the university, provincial and national level. In short, Jonathan’s service to Classical Studies in Canada has been and continues to be exemplary, and he is most deserving of this recognition.”
From left to right, Bonnie McLachlan (University of Western Ontario, incoming President), Leopold Migeotte (Université Laval, former Honorary President), Jonathan Edmondson, Alison Keith (University of Toronto, Past President), and Patrick Baker (Université Laval, outgoing President).
On behalf of the department, I would like to congratulate Jonathan most warmly.
Regards,
Marcel Martel
Professor, Chair and Holder of the Avie Bennett Historica Canada Chair in Canadian History
Professeur, directeur et titulaire de la Chaire Avie Bennett Historica Canada en histoire canadienne