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Joan Gilroy is an activist, feminist and social worker whose career has straddled the community and the academy.

Born and raised in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, the second of five children, Joan Gilroy's early education took place in one- and two-room schoolhouses until she moved to Truro to complete high school. She received her BA from Dalhousie University in 1956, followed by an MSW in 1958 from the Maritime School of Social Work, which was then associated with the University of King's College. She returned to the school as a field instructor and director of admissions between periods of employment as a social worker in Nova Scotia and Montreal.

In 1969 she joined the faculty of the Maritime School of Social Work at Dalhousie University, and in 1990 was the first woman to be appointed director of the school, a position she held until her retirement in 1998. During her tenure she took two study leaves, earning an MA from the Institute of Criminology at the University of Toronto in 1974, and pursuing a PhD between 1980-1983 in the Department of Sociology in Education at OISE.

Gilroy’s teaching, research, professional activities and community work has focused on children, women, and feminist social work practice. She was a founding member for the Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers, a founding member and chair of the Canadian Association of Schools of Social Work Women’s Caucus, and chair of the Women’s Caucus of the International Association of Schools of Social Work.

Her contributions to social justice have been recognized by both her peers and the wider community: among other honours she has received YMCA’s Women’s Recognition (1993); the Nova Scotia Association of Social Workers’ Freda Vickery Award (1997); Certificate of Commendation from Canada’s Governor General (1997); Dalhousie University’s A. Gordon Archibald Award (2002); and the Canadian Association of Social Workers Distinguished Service Award (2005).

Philip Girard is a writer, author and research professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. He was born 18 May 1955 in Chatham, Ontario, and grew up on a farm in nearby Merlin.

Girard earned a BA from Brock University, Ontario (1976), and an LLB from McGill University, Montreal (1979), before clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice W.Z. Estey (1979-1980). Following his clerkship he taught at the University of Western Ontario (1980-1983) and in 1983 began a Masters degree in legal history and jurisprudence at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1986. In 1984 he began teaching at Dalhousie Law School and has been called “one of Dalhousie’s most scholarly professors,” introducing a course in Canadian legal history. He has been a visiting professor at the Native Law Centre, University of Saskatchewan (1982), Osgoode Hall Law School (1993-1994),and the Indian Law Institute, New Delhi (1997). He has served as acting Dean of the Faculty of Law (1991-1993), president of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers (2003-2004), Associate Editor of the Osgoode Society for Legal History, and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research (Law) (2002-2006).

Girard’s research interests include property law, sexual orientation and the law, and legal history of the Maritime provinces. His work has been published in both law and history journals and anthologies, and his Bora Laskin: Bringing Law to Life, won the 2006 Chalmers Award. Lawyers and Legal Culture in British North America: Beamish Murdoch of Halifax (2011).

Philip Girard married Dr. Sheila Zurbrigg in 1984, with whom he has two children: Daniel (born 1985) and Gabriel (born 1988).

Dr. John Ferguson Godfrey was born December 19, 1942 in Toronto to Senator John Morrow Godfrey and Mary Burwell. Godfrey graduated from Upper Canada College in 1960 and went on to attend Neuchâtel Junior College in Switzerland in 1961. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Trinity College (University of Toronto) in 1965, a Master of Philosophy degree from Balliol College (Oxford) in 1967, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from St. Antony’s College (Oxford) in 1975.

In 1970, Godfrey became a history professor at Dalhousie University. During this time, he worked with Dr. David Crook on developing a method of teaching History 100 to non-history majors, using lectures, videos, rap sessions and happenings, and dividing historical events from 1870-1970 into ten thematic decades.

Dr. Godfrey was Don of Chapel Bay at the University of King’s College from 1971-1976 and went on to serve as President and Vice-Chancellor of King’s College from 1977-1987. In 1988, he became the editor of Financial Post, a position he held until 1991. Godfrey also served as Chairman of the Art Gallery of Dalhousie and was a member of the National Film Board of Canada, the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews, the Halifax Board of Trade, and the National Board of C.U.S.O. He was active in many other associations.

In the early 1980s, Dr. Godfrey ran unsuccessfully as a provincial Liberal candidate for Halifax-Citadel. He ran and won in Toronto's Don Valley riding in 1993 and served as Parliamentary Secretary under Jean Chrétien from 1996-2004. In 2004, Godfrey was appointed Minister of State for Infrastructure and Communities by Paul Martin, a portfolio he held until 2006. That year, Godfrey announced he was running for the Liberal leadership, but he withdrew due to health problems and announced his support for Bob Rae. In 2008, Godfrey resigned his seat.

John Finlayson Graham was born in Calgary, Alberta on May 31, 1924 to parents William and Hazel Marie (Lund). He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1947, a Master in 1948, and a Doctorate in 1959 from Columbia University. Graham joined the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University in 1949 as an assistant professor and became a professor in 1960. He was the head of the department from 1960 to 1969 and was primarily interested in public finance, specifically intergovernmental fiscal relations.

Graham was active in multiple university and professional associations and organizations. He was the president of the Faculty Association at Dalhousie, vice-president of the Canadian University Teacher’s Association, president of the Canadian Economics Association (1970-1971), chairman of the Nova Scotia Royal Commission on Education, Public Services and Provincial-Municipal Relations (1971-1974), a consultant on the Royal Commission on Finance and Municipal Taxation in New Brunswick (1962-1964), a consultant on educational finance for the Newfoundland Royal Commission on Education and Youth (1966-1967), and held numerous other positions during his career. He was the author of many journal articles, reviews, Fiscal Adjustment and Economic Development: A Case Study of Nova Scotia (1963). In 1979-1980, Graham was chairman of the Dalhousie Senate ad hoc committee on the university constitution, which recommended the current structure of the Senate.

John Graham died suddenly from a pulmonary embolism on November 14, 1990. He was married to Hermioni (Nita) Graham and had four children: Andrew Thomas, James Theodore, Johanna Hermioni, and Nicholas Lund. The John F. Graham memorial lecture in the Department of Economics at Dalhousie University was established in memory of Dr. Graham in 1992.

Robert Henry Graham was a barrister and politician born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, on 30 November 1871, the son of Jane (Marshall) and John George Graham. He graduated from Dalhousie University with his BA in 1892 and LLB in 1894, and was called to the Nova Scotia Bar that same year. In 1913 he became King's counsel (crown attorney) and in 1925 was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. He was also a stipendiary magistrate from 1906-1920.

Graham served New Glasgow as town councillor in 1898 and as mayor from 1899-1900 before entering provincial politics and representing Pictou County as a Liberal in the House of Assembly from 1916-1925. Following his career in politics, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. He died in 1956 at the age of 85.

Jill Grant is a planning educator and scholar, and Professor Emeritus in the School of Planning at Dalhousie University.

She was born in 1951 in Newbury, England, and earned a BA Hon from the University of Western Ontario (1975) and an MA from McMaster University (1977), both in anthropology. Her shift in focus was triggered by living in Papua, New Guinea, where her partner was doing fieldwork, and she determined that planning and development was the key to helping people to cope with the challenges posed by their environment. On her return to Canada she entered the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo, from where she received an MA in 1980 and a PhD in 1991.

From 1995–2001 Jill Grant taught at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where she rose to the rank of full professor and served in various administrative capacities, including Department Head, Chair of the Design Division, and Vice-President (Academic Dean). Her move to Dalhousie in 2001 was the result of the merger of Environmental Planning at NSCAD with Dalhousie’s Urban and Rural Planning program. She was a key figure in shaping the School of Planning’s Community Design program—the first of its kind in Canada—in which she taught until her retirement in 2017.

Jill Grant’s research examines planning theory and practice to understand how cities work and how planning can improve living environments. Areas of particular study include trends in planning Canadian suburbs, neighbourhood change in Halifax, coordinating multiple plans, and the influence of the creative classes and creative cities ideas on planning practice. Her published work is extensive, including monographs, book chapters, journal articles and reports, as well as web publications and working papers. She has also held numerous editorial board appointments for scholarly and professional journals and book publishers.

In addition to her work as a scholar and educator, Jill Grant has been involved as a consultant for or participant in numerous projects. Her community engagements are diverse; she sits on the Advisory Committee of Housing Nova Scotia, was a member of the Joint Review Panel for the White’s Point Quarry and Marine Terminal Project, and served as President of the Dartmouth Japan Karate Association. Her achievements have received wide recognition, including the 2014 API Award for Planning Excellence in research publication, a 2012 Reviewer Award for the Journal of Planning Education and Research, and Awards for Planning Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Planners in both 2003 and 2010.

James Gray was a scholar and professor of English literature and language at Dalhousie University. Born in Montrose, Scotland, he studied literature at the University of Aberdeen before serving in the Second World War from 1941-1946. After the war, he received a BA (1948) and MA (1951) in literature from Oxford University, where he studied at Balliol College. He moved to Quebec in 1951 to take up a teaching appointment at Bishop’s University, becoming head of their English department in 1958 and Chair of Humanities in 1971. During this period he also taught part time in the Canadian National Railways staff training course. He received his PhD in literature from the University of Montreal in 1970.

In 1975 Gray came to Dalhousie University as Dean of Faculty of Arts and Science. He wrote and lectured extensively about eighteenth-century studies, particularly on theatre and religious works. He was active in various literary and teaching associations, journals and publication initiatives, including the editorial committee of the Yale Edition of the Works of Samuel Johnson for over a decade. He was also a keen philatelist.

He was married to Pamela Gray, with whom he had one daughter. In 1980 James Gray retired to Kentville, Nova Scotia, as Thomas McCulloch Professor Emeritus. He died in 2012.