Lesley A. Jacobs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lesley A. Jacobs | |
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| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Law and Politics |
| Sub-discipline | Human Rights and Legal Theory |
| Institutions | |
| Notable works | Pursuing Equal Opportunities (Cambridge University Press)[3] |
Lesley Jacobs is a Canadian academic, legal scholar, and senior university administrator specializing in human rights, access to justice, and data science applications in social policy. He is a professor emeritus at York University.[4]
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada,[5] and has served as vice president of Research and Innovation at Ontario Tech University since 2019, where he directs Canada's first International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Collaborating Centre.[6][7] His interdisciplinary law and social science research combines empirical data science with policy analysis, particularly in anti-racism, policing, and equality of opportunity.[2]
Jacobs earned his Bachelor of Arts with a Gold Medal in 1985 and Master of Arts in 1986 in Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Western Ontario.[8] He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in Politics at the University of Oxford in 1990 under the supervision of political philosopher Gerald A. Cohen, with mentorship from legal scholars Ronald Dworkin and Geoffrey Marshall.[9]
Jacobs began his academic career as a lecturer at Magdalen College, Oxford from 1989 to 1990, followed by appointments at the University of British Columbia from 1990 to 1993 and York University from 1993 to 2019.[2] He was the Director of the Institute for Social Research, founding Director of the York Centre for Public Policy and Law, and York Research Chair in Human Rights and Access to Justice.[10]
Since 2019, Jacobs is a Vice-President of Research and Innovation at Ontario Tech University.[7] He spearheaded partnerships such as the university's role as an academic build partner for Project Arrow (Canada's first all-electric concept vehicle) and established organized research units like the Brilliant Energy Institute and the Automotive Centre of Excellence.[11]
He is a corporate director for three technology firms and contributes to IAEA initiatives on nuclear energy governance.[12]