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Authority record
Robinson, Ira
IR1 · Person · 19XX-

Ira Robinson is a professor of Judaic studies in the department of Religion and Cultures of Concordia University. He received his BA in Humanities from the Johns Hopkins University in 1973. Robinson obtained his M.A. in Jewish History from Columbia University in 1975 before becoming a lecturer at the department of Religion of Concordia University in 1979. Harvard University awarded Robinson his Ph.D. in 1980. He was promoted to the Associate Professor rank in 1984 and was the Graduate Program Director of the M.A. in Judaic Studies from 1984 to 1991. He sat on the Council of the Faculty of Arts and Science from 1990-1991 to 1997-1998. Robinson was elected chair of the department of Religion in 1989, a position he would keep until 1997. He was finally promoted Full Professor in 1993. Robinson would be promoted Graduate Program Director again, from 2000 to 2009. Robinson was inducted into the Provost’s Circle of Distinction on May 30, 2013. He was designated Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 2022. Ira Robinson published more than 15 books and over 50 articles. His research interests are Canadian Judaism, Orthodox Judaism in North America, Hasidism, Judaism and science and Jewish mysticism.

  • Ira Robinson obtained his first award, the Louis L. Kaplan Prize in Hebrew Literature from the Baltimore Hebrew College, in 1970.
  • He was awarded the 1986 prize in the non-fiction category of the Kenneth B. Smilen Literary Awards as the editor of Cyrus Adler: Selected Letters.
  • In 1988, Robinson chaired the 3-day event Yiddish Montreal symposium, underlining Montreal as a world centre of Yiddish literary creativity.
  • He was elected president of the Canadian Jewish Historical Society (now the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies) in June of 1994.
  • Robinson was the president of the Jewish Public Library in Montreal from 1996 to 1998.
  • The Koffler Centre for the Arts in Toronto’s Jewish Book Awards Committee granted Robinson the Prize for scholarship on a Canadian Jewish subject for the book ‘Renewing Our Days: Montreal Jews in the Twentieth Century’ in 1995.
  • Robinson was instrumental in the creation of the Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies in 1999. He has acted as a director for the institute in 2005-2006, and 2012 to
  • He chaired the Canadian Jewish Studies Researchers’ Forum held March 2001 in Montreal.
  • In 2002, Robinson was elected to the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society.
  • Robinson was awarded the Louis Rosenberg Canadian Jewish Studies Distinguished Service Award in 2013 for his continuous support of Jewish Studies.
Boisvert, Donald L.
DB1 · Person · 1951-2019

Donald L. Boisvert was an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Religions and Cultures.

In 1975 Boisvert was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies followed by a Masters in History and Philosophy of Religion, both from Concordia University. In 1978 he began PhD studies at McMaster University which he completed at the University of Ottawa in 1990.

Boisvert worked for two years as Communications Assistant in the Office of the Leader Opposition of the Canadian House of Commons before returning to Concordia University in September 1979 to work on program development in the Dean of Students Office. The following year he replaced Don Taddeo as Administrative Assistant to Russel Breen (Academic Vice-Rector), a position he held until moving to the Office of the Rector in 1985 to work as an Executive Assistant until 1990.

From 1991-1996, Boisvert was the Associate Vice-Rector, Student Life and from 1996-2003 he was the Dean of Students. In 2008 he succeeded John O’Brien as Speaker of the Senate until 2013. In 2003 Boisvert returned to full-time teaching and research as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Religion where he received tenure in 2011. He served as Chair of the Department of Religion from 2014 to 2015 and retired from Concordia University in 2016.

Boisvert passed away on June 19, 2019. He published two books, including Sanctity and Male Desire: A Gay Reading of Saints in 2004. In 2005 Boisvert was a Lambda Literary Awards finalist in the Spirituality/Religion category. Throughout his academic career he presented his papers at several Canadian, American and European conferences. An openly gay man, Boisvert’s extensive research explored the intersection of religion, gender and sexuality.

  • In 1972 Boisvert was the editor of the Loyola Happening.
  • During his studies at Loyola College, Boisvert was Vice-President, External, of the Loyola Student Association (LSA) from 1972-1973 and served as Co-President of the LSA with Marc Tigh from 1973-1974.
  • In 1975 Boisvert was awarded the Loyola Campus Medal as Graduating Class Valedictorian.
  • In 2002 he endowed the Donald L. Boisvert Scholarship for Gay and Lesbian Studies.
  • He gave the keynote address at Sexy Religion: The Allure of the Transcendent, an interdisciplinary conference held at Concordia University in February 2006.
  • Boisvert received the Concordia University Alumni Association 2010 Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching at the May 17, 2010 Alumni Recognition Awards Banquet.
  • In September 2013 Boisvert was ordained Priest in the Anglican Church of Canada by the Anglican Bishop of Montreal.
Davis, Charles
CD1 · Person · 1923-January 28, 1999

Charles Davis was a full-time professor at the department of Religion.

  • Davis was the first Concordia faculty member to receive the Killam Research Fellowship from the Canada Council for the Arts in 1981.
  • He was promoted to the rank of Professor Emeritus for 1992-1993.
Frank, Barry
FB1 · Person · 1942-2019

Barry Frank joined Sir George Williams University as a faculty members in Physics in 1965. He was promoted to Full Professor in 1986. Frank passed away on January 27, 2019.

  • Frank received his 50 years of service recognition at the Annual Long Service and Retiree Luncheon held December 10, 2015
  • The Department of Physics' Inaugural Barry Frank Memorial Lecture took place at Concordia University on September 6, 2023.
Morris, Stanley
SM1 · Person · 1937-

Dr. Stanley Morris, born in 1937, obtained a Ph D. from McGill University in 1964 and joined Sir George Williams University the same year as Assistant Professor of Physics. He became Associate Professor in 1969 and retired from Concordia University in May 1977.

Thouin, Guy
GT2 · Person · 1940-

Guy Thouin is a musician and artist born on April 10, 1940, in Montreal. He studied percussion with a private tutor from 1959 to 1960, and during the early 60s, started playing drums at bars in Montreal. He graduated from l’École d’Optique du Québec in 1964 and worked as an optician for a year before he began his studies in fine arts at l‘École des Beaux-arts de Montréal. From 1969 to 1970, Thouin studied classic percussion at McGill University under Pierre Béluse. From 1971 to 1976 he studied Indian music in Pondicherry and Calcutta, India, specializing in Tabla.

In 1967, Guy Thouin, along with Yves Charbonneau, Jean Préfontaine, and Maurice C. Richard, became one of the founding members of Quatuor de jazz libre du Québec, originally known as Quatuor du nouveau jazz libre du Québec. The band played in several Montreal bars, colleges and Universities around Quebec, until they disbanded in 1974. In 1969, Thouin also joined L’Infonie, an avant-garde group where he played with Walter Boudreau and Raôul Duguay until 1971 when Thouin decided to leave both bands to study music in India. After returning to Montreal from India, Thouin rejoined the Montreal jazz scene and collaborated with several artists and musicians, including the band Mirage, which was a Montreal Jazz Festival finalist in 1985. In 1989, he founded the Heart Ensemble, a quintet of guest musicians that performed Guy Thouin’s compositions for over 20 years at cultural centres and bars in Montreal, Ottawa, Joliette, and several other cities around the province of Quebec. Many of these performances were recorded and broadcasted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). In 2012, along with Bryan Highbloom, Thouin founded the Nouveau Jazz Libre du Québec, playing several concerts, including one at the Suoni Pel II Popolo Festival.

Thouin composed Rien ô tout ou linéaire un, an immersive sound experience, while studying at McGill University. This sound environment was created for a work by visual artist Roland Poulin and was exhibited in 1971 at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. Since 2015, Guy Thouin continues to compose, play, and perform along with Félix-Antoine Hamel, in a new version of the Heart Ensemble called From the Basement, which invites musicians to play with them in their basement, and explore different avenues of the “free jazz” movement.

Weeks Barker, Velma
VWB1 · Person · 1925-2016

Velma Weeks Barker, born Velma Carmen Weeks, was born in Montreal in 1925. She graduated from Westmount High School and later studied at the Canadian Kindergarten Institute, graduating in 1945. In 1949 she graduated from Dr. Eliot's Nursery Training School of Boston, later known as the Eliot Pearson Department of Child Study of Tufts University. When she returned to Montreal she established a preschool program at the YMCA in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

Weeks Barker was Vice-President and Quebec representative to the Canadian Association for Young Children for several years and was a founder and lifetime member of the Nursery School Teachers of Greater Montreal. She is a highly regarded childhood educator and throughout her life, was a leader in the field of Early Childhood Education. In 1983, she received the Bothwell-Smith Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. In 1992, she received the Elks of Canada Academic Achievement Award. In 1993, she received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University for her contributions to the field (Doctor of Laws, honoris causa).

Weeks Barker attended the Negro Community Centre in Little Burgundy and Union United Church, where she married her husband Darnley Cecil Barker, with whom she had a son named Spencer. Velma Weeks Barker died in 2016.

Sources:
Clippings. Velma Weeks Barker collection. C039-001, folder 19. Concordia University Special Collections, Montreal, Canada

Jacobs, Ellen. (1993). Honorary degree citation – Velma Weeks Barker. Concordia University. https://www.concordia.ca/offices/archives/honorary-degree-recipients/1993/06/velma-weeks-barker.html

White, Keith
KW3 · Person · 1929-2020

Keith White, a jazz pianist and mathematics teacher, was born on June 19, 1929 in Toronto and now lives in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec. He spent most of his childhood in Cleveland and came to Montreal at 15 to live with his grandparents. After graduating at the Montreal High School in 1949, he went to Clarkson College of Technology in Postdam, N.Y. He returned to Montreal in 1951 and attended Sir George Williams College (B. Sc. 1953, B. A. 1954).

From 1953, he worked as an engineer in Montreal while studying in the evenings. Between 1955 and 1957 he worked as engineer in Baltimore, Md., and Melbourne, Fl. From 1957 to 1959 he studied for a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Miami. He returned to live in Montreal in the summer of 1959 where he began teaching mathematics at Sir George Williams University. He stayed on for two years and then taught in High Schools and CEGEPs. He retired from teaching in 1974.

Keith White began to play piano at age 6. In the 1950s, while studying and working for engineering firms, he worked in the evenings as a part-time musician, for example, in a relief band at Chez Paree in Montreal, in 1952-1953, as solo pianist for 3 months at the Baltimore hotel in 1955 and in 1960 as leader of the rhythm sections for the Montreal Jazz Society at Little Vienna (on Stanley Street). In 1952 he co-founded the Jazz Workshop with Paul Bley. Because of his teaching commitments Keith White retired from the jazz scene in the fall of 1960. From then on, he only worked occasionally as a musician. In the 1970s he organized a series of concerts at the Musée des Beaux-Arts under the name Jazz Workshop. His son André became a professional jazz drummer and pianist. Around 1980, the father and the son played together briefly at the C-Note.

White passed away on April 24, 2020.

Singer, Martin
MS1 · Person

Dr. Martin Singer completed his BA in 1968 from Hunter College of the City University of New York, and an MA in East Asian Studies in 1970 at the University of Michigan. In 1977, he received his PhD in History, also from the University of Michigan.

He moved to Montreal in 1972 where he joined the History Department of Sir George Williams University (SGWU) - now Concordia University -, as assistant professor where he taught history of China and other East Asian nations. In 1975, Singer developed an innovative credit course: “East Asia: Past and Present”. As part of this intensive course, forty students, faculty and staff from SGWU visited five Asian locales. The visit was preceded by a three-week orientation period of formal lectures and assigned readings; during the trip there were seminars and assignments. The course was offered again in 1976, this time the orientation period was extended to three months with lectures films and assigned reading. Singer added Peking (Beijing), Nanking (Nanjing), and Shanghai to the trip itinerary.

Martin Singer served as Assistant Provost in the new Concordia Faculty of Arts and Science from 1977 to 1980 where he played a leading role in the creation of seven colleges, including the Liberal Arts College, the Science College, the Simone de Beauvoir Institute and the Institute for Co-operative Education. He then served as Provost of the Faculty of Arts and Science from 1980 to 1985. He was the founding Director of the Council for International Academic Cooperation, from 1986 to 1989.

In 1982, Singer undertook a major International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-sponsored research project on the relationships between Canadian universities and China. His two-volume report was published in 1986, under the title: Canadian Academic Relations with the People's Republic of China Since 1970 (IDRC 1986). He followed this with a book titled China’s Academic Relations with Canada: Past, Present and Future (Centre for Developing Area Studies, McGill University, 1992). In 1994, he undertook another research project on the Sino-Canadian academic relations, sponsored this time by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC). The report was published in 1996 under the title: Academic Relations Between Canada and China, 1970-1995 (AUCC 1996).

He served as Acting Chair and Chair of the History Department from 1994 until his appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science in 1997. As Dean, Singer has been a leader behind the effort to build a science complex on the Loyola Campus. He also played an integral role in incorporating technology in the Faculty, increase faculty recruitment and opportunities for student exchanges. From 2004 to 2007, he was Provost and Vice-President, Academic Affairs and after an administrative leave, he returned to the Department of History as tenured professor to continue his work as one of one Canada’s leading Sinologist. In 2009, Dr. Singer left Concordia to become the founding Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies at York University. He retired from York University in 2015.

Hill, John L.
JH1 · Person · 19XX-

September 27, 2008: A conference is held in the Department of History to celebrate Hill's retirement.

Scheinberg, Stephen J.
SJS1 · Person · 1935-

Stephen J. Scheinberg joined Sir George Williams University in 1963 as a lecturer in history. He was appointed assistant professor of history in 1964, associate professor in 1969, and professor of history in 1995.

Wall, Robert E.
RW1 · Person · 1937-2000

Robert E. Wall was a professor of history and university administrator. He accepted an associate professor position at Sir George Williams University, leaving Michigan State University in 1970. He acted as Chair for the department of History between 1972 to 1977 before being named Faculty Provost in 1977. Wall would leave Concordia University for a Provost position at New Jersey’s Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1980.

  • In the Spring of 1977, Wall was charged by the University Senate to establish ‘small units such as colleges’ within the Arts and Science faculty. The creation of colleges would solve the overspecialization and depersonalization problems present at the time. Following his proposals, the Simone de Beauvoir Institute, the Centre for Mature Students, the Science College, the Lonergan University College, the School of Community and Public Affairs and the Liberal Arts College would be created.
  • In 1980, Wall published the historical novel Blackrobe, a bestseller that would later be adapted by CBS into a successful radio drama series.
  • Wall received an Honorary Degree from Concordia University at the Arts and Science Convocation ceremony of June 1999.