Alumni of Influence

A widely recognized expert in the area of constitutional law, Peter Oliver is currently a Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa (2007-present). He formerly held various governmental and academic positions around the world, including serving as Scholar in Residence with the Canadian Department of Justice (2005-06) and as a special advisor and senior advisor to the Privy Council of Canada (2006-12). Included amongst his many honours and awards are an appointment as Chair in Constitutional Law at King's College London (2005), an appointment as Scholar in Residence at Justice Canada (2005), a Christensen Visiting Fellowship from St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford (2015), the Outstanding Contributor Prize from the Ottawa Law Review (2019), and the Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship (2006).

Ruth Richardson is a global leader who tirelessly advocates for shifting food and agriculture systems towards greater sustainability, security, and equity. She is currently the executive director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, a strategic alliance of more than 25 international philanthropic foundations. Her former positions include being the inaugural director of the Unilever Canada Foundation, founding chair of the Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network, and the first environment director at the Metcalf Foundation. Richardson also served as the lead consultant to establish The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. Richardson sits on various advisory and steering committees and is the founder and past chair of Small Change Fund, an online vehicle for micro-philanthropy.

The founding dean of the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Ryerson University (2020-present), Donna Young has broken numerous race and gender barriers throughout her career. Young was formerly a long-time professor of law at Albany Law School and a joint faculty member at the University of Albany’s Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She was appointed as Albany Law School’s President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy (2018-20) before coming to Ryerson as only the second Black woman to be appointed dean of a Canadian law school. A highly sought after speaker at conferences and events, Young’s research and work has focused mainly on criminal and employment law, as well as gender and race studies. In 2021, she was selected as a Top 25 Women of Influence and won the Female Trailblazer Excellence Award from the Canadian Law Awards.