Dr. Patricia A. Demers, is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

and academic. She was the first female president of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; , SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities, and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguishe ...

serving from 2005 to 2007.

Early life and education

Demers grew up in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and French and a Master of Arts degree from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

. She received a Ph.D. from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

Career

After receiving her Ph.D., she taught for three years as a sessional instructor at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. She then became an assistant professor and is now a professor of English and Film Studies. Her research includes Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, 17th-century poetry, children's literature, and contemporary Canadian women's writing. From 1991 to 1993, she was Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, and from 1995 to 1998 she was Department Chair. From 1998 to 2002, she was Vice-President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She was made a Fellow of Royal Society of Canada in 2000 and served as its first female president from 2005 to 2007.

Selected publications

She is the author and editor of a number of scholarly publications including: * ''A Garland from the Golden Age: An Anthology of Children's Literature from 1850 to 1900'' (Oxford University Press, 1983) * ''Women as Interpreters of the Bible'' (Paulist Press, 1992), ''Heaven Upon Earth: The Form of Moral and Religious Children's Literature to 1850'' (University of Tennessee, 1993) * ''The World of Hannah More'' (University Press of Kentucky, 1996) * ''Women's Writing in English: Early Modern England'' (University of Toronto Press, 2005) *''Travels and Tales of Miriam Green Ellis : Pioneer Journalist of the Canadian West.'' (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2013.) *''Women’s Writing in Canada'' (University of Toronto Press, 2019)

Awards and recognition

She was awarded the University of Alberta Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Arts Faculty Teaching Award, the McCalla Research Professorship Award, and the University Cup. On June 30, 2016, Demers was made a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

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David Johnston David Johnston or Dave Johnston may refer to: Politics *David Johnston (governor general) David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served as the 28th governor general of Canada from 2010 to ...

for "her insightful contributions to the study of early works of English literature and for her service to the academic community."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demers, Patricia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian academics of women's studies Canadian humanists Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada McMaster University alumni Members of the Order of Canada Academics from Hamilton, Ontario Academic staff of the University of Alberta University of Ottawa alumni