Internationally acclaimed legal practitioner receives 12th annual arts alumni achievement award
2009 Arts Alumni Achievement Winner: C. Ian Kyer
After completing his master's degree at Waterloo, Ian enrolled in the PhD program at the University of Toronto. He recalls that when he attended his first Waterloo convocation ceremonies in 1972, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life.
I would do a master's and a doctorate in medieval ecclesiastical history and then teach at a university. I never once considered being a lawyer. My goal was to be a scholar and a teacher.
That all changed in 1977. Ian was almost finished his doctorate, with only his oral thesis defence remaining, when he began applying around the world for a university position, but without success. Since universities were not hiring in his field at the time, he decided to explore other career options.
In the fall of 1979, Ian received his PhD, just six months before he received his LLB (1980). When he was called to the Bar in 1982, Ian was asked to join Fasken & Calvin (now known as Fasken Martineau), a large Bay Street firm, where he secured an articling position after law school. Ian has worked at the firm for 27 years, and the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory ranks him as one of the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada.
Some of his other accolades include being twice rated as one of the top 25 IT lawyers in the world in Euromoney's The Best of the Best, and granted the highest rating by Martindale-Hubbell, an authoritative resource for information on the worldwide legal system. For several years, he has been listed in the International Who's Who of Internet and E-Commerce Lawyers.
Throughout his career, Ian says that he has had two loves law and history and he has dedicated himself to both. Ian recognized that his education gave him skills that could be used Ian has served as a volunteer for several educational institutions including ePresence, an open source multimedia initiative of the University of Toronto, as well as NECTAR, a national research network focused on multimedia collaborative learning tools. His involvement in Impact, Canada's largest youth-run entrepreneurship group, has been invaluable, supporting the development of young entrepreneurs by providing sponsorship and pro bono legal services to the student run organization Impact.
Ian is incredibly giving, and this is what makes him a truly great leader,
say Kunal Gupta (BSE '08) and Ray Cao (BASc '09), both past presidents of Impact.
Ian continues to contribute to his alma mater and has participated in Waterloo's Lecture Series, as well as served as an advisor to President David Johnston on IT law issues. Ian was a Hugh Mackinnon memorial lecturer in the History department, and collaborates with Professor John English, who is the general editor for the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, for which Ian has written eight biographies.
Ian has worked on numerous projects with Professor Emeritus Donald Cowan (Computer Science) and Professor Dominic Covvey (Science). Several years ago, all three participated in a think tank on health information and privacy. He is currently working with Professor Vic DiCiccio (Computer Science) on a new Network Centre of Excellence (NCE) project dealing with graphics, animation, and new media.
As a fan of classical music composer Antonio Salieri, Ian is currently writing a historical novel retelling the Amadeus story. His future plans include writing more historical novels about 18th- and 19th-century musicians, and perhaps a non-fiction guide to Mozart's contemporaries entitled The Other Composers.