Stephen John Toope (born February 14, 1958) is a Canadian legal scholar,

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

and a scholar specializing in human rights, public international law and international relations. In April 2013 he announced he was stepping down as

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

(UBC) president, following an eight-year term. From October 2017 to September 2022, he was vice-chancellor of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in the United Kingdom.

Education

Toope graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and European History. He then received two law degrees – in common law and civil law – from the McGill University Faculty of Law in 1983, where he served as editor-in-chief of the ''

McGill Law Journal The ''McGill Law Journal'' is a student-run legal publication at McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal. It is a not-for-profit corporation independent of the Faculty and it is managed exclusively by students. The ''Journal'' also publishes ...

''. In 1987, he was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in arbitration law at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

Career

After completing his PhD, Toope joined McGill University's faculty. He served as dean of McGill University Faculty of Law from 1994 to 1999. He is the youngest person to have held the position. During his tenure as dean, he led the then-largest capital campaign in Canadian law faculty history to build a new Law library, and oversaw the renewal of the faculty's curriculum. Toope then headed the Trudeau Foundation, named in honor of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The Foundation is an independent, private, and non-partisan Canadian educational foundation that focuses on identifying outstanding talent in the social sciences and humanities, thereby building a network to promote public debate on issues of societal importance. The Foundation awards five fellowships and 15 doctoral candidate scholarships annually to recognize outstanding achievement in the humanities and social sciences that exemplify innovative public policy approaches and a commitment to public engagement. Established in 2002, the Foundation manages an endowment of more than C$140 million. In 2006, Toope became the 12th president and

vice-chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

of the

succeeding

Martha Piper Martha C. Piper is a Canadian academic and administrator who was the president and vice-chancellor of the University of British Columbia (UBC) from 1997 until 2006. She was the 11th person and the first woman to serve as president of UBC. Having ...

. He also held an academic position at the university as a tenured professor of law. He assumed the presidential post on July 1, 2006, and held the position for eight years, until June 30, 2014. On April 3, 2013, it was announced that Toope would leave the UBC presidency effective June 2014 to "pursue academic and professional interests in international law and international relations". In January 2015, Toope became the director of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Munk School of Global Affairs The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto is an interdisciplinary academic centre with various research and educational programs committed to the field of globalization. Located in Toronto, Ontario, it o ...

. He was named Officer of the Order of Canada in 2015. On October 1, 2017, he became the 346th person to serve as

Vice-Chancellor A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system. In most Commonwealth and former Commonwealth nations, the chancellor ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in England, becoming the first non-Briton to do so. He is concurrently

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

of International Law at the Faculty of Law, a Professorial Fellow of Clare Hall, and an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in ...

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. Toope has been consulted extensively by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency. He has won publishing awards from the

American Society of International Law The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the ba ...

and the

Canadian Tax Foundation The Canadian Tax Foundation was founded in 1945 as an independent, non-partisan, non-profit tax research organization under the joint sponsorship of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and the Canadian Bar Association. It provides a u ...

. He has also conducted various human rights seminars for government officials in Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, and was a member of the UN observer delegation to the first post-apartheid South African elections. He has also served as Research Director, Office of the Special Representative concerning the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People in 1991. In 2017, he received an honorary doctorate from McGill University. In 2019, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His service to the community includes serving on the boards of non-governmental organizations that promote human rights and international development, including the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, the

World University Service of Canada In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

and the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. In an op-edit, in 2018 he criticized British politicians for "condemning UK universities as broken and in need of market discipline." In 2019, he received an honorary LLD from the Law Society of Ontario. During his annual university address, in 2020 he announced Cambridge was removing fossil fuel investments from its portfolio. On September 20, 2021, he announced he would be stepping down as vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, two years short of completing his seven-year term. His last day in the role was September 30, 2022. In May 2022, he was selected as the 5th President of Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), commencing November 1, 2022.

Personal

Toope took up residence in Cambridge in 2018, along with his wife, Paula Rosen, a speech-language pathologist and musical theatre composer. They have three adult children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toope, Stephen 1958 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Canadian Anglicans Canadian university and college chief executives Canadian university and college faculty deans Clerks of the Supreme Court of Canada Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Harvard University alumni International law scholars McGill University Faculty of Law faculty McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Officers of the Order of Canada People from Montreal Presidents of the University of British Columbia University of British Columbia faculty Members of the Institut de Droit International McGill Law Journal editors