Chad Gaffield was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, at the 2:00 p.m. ceremony on Tuesday, June 9 “in recognition of his impressive accomplishments as a researcher, a visionary leader, and a spokesperson for the social sciences and humanities in Canada.”
Chad Gaffield is one of Canada’s foremost historians. After eight years as president the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), he returned to the University of Ottawa where he is a professor of History and University Research Chair in Digital Scholarship. Prof. Gaffield’s teaching and research focus on the great transformations of the 19th and 20th centuries, with special attention to the interrelationships of demographic, economic, cultural and social changes.
He has won many awards for his scholarship and innovations related to computer-based, interdisciplinary, multi-institutional and international collaboration. The University of Ottawa named him Researcher of the Year in 1995 and Professor of the Year in 2002. He was also presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2003) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
He was awarded the J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal by the Royal Society of Canada (2004), the Prix de la francophonie by the Province of Ontario (2007), and the Antonio Zampolli Prize by the international Alliance of Digital Humanities Organisations (2011). In 2007, the Canadian Association of University Teachers presented him with its Distinguished Academic Award.