Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Thomas Bernard, Wanda
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard was born in Preston, Nova Scotia on August 1, 1953. She received a BA from Mount St. Vincent University, followed by a Masters of Social Work from Dalhousie, and her PhD in Social Work from Sheffield University in England. She worked on a sessional basis at Dalhousie since 1981, receiving full professorship in 1990. She was the first African Nova Scotian to hold a tenure track position at Dal. She is a leader in the field of social work, cultural and racial issues, minority representation, and African-Canadian education in Canada. She became the Director of the Maritime School of Social Work at Dal in 2001 (until 2011). She worked to increase accessibility for minority populations to social work, and create African-Canadian specific social work practices in Nova Scotia. She was a founding member and past president of the Association of Black Social Workers, which has changed legislation that has worked to improve welfare and child services for black families in Canada. In 2004 she received the Nova Scotia Human Rights Award, and in 2005 was given the Order of Canada for her work in racial issues and social work. In October 2016 Dr. Bernard was appointed to the Senate of Canada.