At Arts convocation, William Coleman of the Department of Political Science received the distinguished title of University Professor. He joins an extraordinary group of only sixteen such title-holders at Waterloo who have been recognized for their “exceptional scholarly achievement and international pre-eminence in a particular field or fields of knowledge.”
Professor Coleman is indeed exceptional for making his mark in the fields of public policy and globalization studies. Over the course of his remarkable academic career, he has been the recipient of numerous honours and accolades, including Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Canada Research Chair in Public Policy and Globalization, 3M Teaching Fellow, Trudeau Foundation Fellow, and CIGI Chair in Globalization and Public Policy.
Prior to coming to Waterloo, Professor Coleman served as founding Director of McMaster’s Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, and at Waterloo he was instrumental in developing the highly regarded Global Governance graduate programs at the Balsillie School of International Affairs. In recognition of his work with Indigenous groups, Six Nations Polytechnic appointed him Shakorihonnién:ni, Deyohaná:ge (Associate Professor, Indigenous Knowledge Centre).
I came to know him as an exceptional person and a brilliant academic. He richly deserves this honour.”
- Bruce Muirhead, History Professor
Strongly collaborative in his research approach, Professor Coleman has published, often jointly with others, an extensive list of books, journal articles and chapters. He has been the recipient of numerous SSHRC (and other) research grants, most notably a $2.5 million SSHRC Major Collaborative Research Initiatives (MCRI) grant for the “Globalization and Autonomy” project, an international and multidisciplinary research network that flourished under his leadership during the early 2000s.
The seeds for the ambitious “Globalization and Autonomy” project were sown already much earlier in Coleman’s academic career. He was well situated to lead such a network because of his groundbreaking early work in the area of public policy - in fact, he is often credited with founding it as a serious academic field in Canada - and his subsequent linking of public policy concerns to the fast-emerging phenomenon of globalization in the 1990s. Coleman was able to mobilize a dynamic international and multi-disciplinary team of over 60 scholars, and under his intellectual leadership, this team produced an extraordinary volume of published work that has profoundly influenced current thinking on globalization and its impacts.
We in Waterloo Arts are fortunate - indeed, privileged - to have Professor Coleman in our ranks. “He continues to be my mentor. He is a kind and generous colleague, a dedicated teacher, and a supremely accomplished scholar”, says Professor of Political Science Jasmin Habib, who worked with Coleman during her postdoctoral studies at McMaster’s Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition. Bruce Muirhead, History Professor and Associate VP External Research, has also had opportunity to work alongside Professor Coleman: “Having spent a month in China with Will a few years ago, and remaining in close touch upon our return, I came to know him as an exceptional person and a brilliant academic. He richly deserves this honour.”
Congratulations University Professor Coleman!
Story written by Angela Roorda, Arts Research Development Officer
