Stephen John Toope (born February 14, 1958) is a Canadian

legal scholar Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the a ...

academic administrator Academic administration is a branch of university or college employees responsible for the maintenance and supervision of the institution and separate from the faculty or academics, although some personnel may have joint responsibilities. Some ...

and a scholar specializing in human rights,

public international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

and international relations. In November 2022, he was appointed as the fifth president and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). Prior to this, he served for five years as the 346th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.

Education

Toope graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and

European History The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD 500), the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500), and the modern era (since AD 1500). The first early Eu ...

. He then received two law degrees – in common law and civil law – from the

McGill University Faculty of Law The Faculty of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the List of law schools in Canada, oldest law school in Canada. 180 candidates are admitted for any given academic year. For ...

in 1983, where he served as editor-in-chief of the ''

McGill Law Journal The ''McGill Law Journal'' is a student-run legal publication at McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal. It is a not-for-profit corporation independent of the Faculty and it is managed exclusively by students. The ''Journal'' also publishes t ...

''. In 1987, he was awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in arbitration law at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

Career

After completing his PhD, Toope joined McGill University's faculty. He served as dean of

from 1994 to 1999. He is the youngest person to have held the position. During his tenure as dean, he led the then-largest capital campaign in Canadian law faculty history to build a new Law library, and oversaw the renewal of the faculty's curriculum. Toope then headed the Trudeau Foundation, named in honor of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. In 2006, Toope became the 12th president and

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

succeeding Martha Piper. He also held an academic position at the university as a tenured professor of law. He assumed the presidential post on July 1, 2006, and held the position for eight years, until June 30, 2014. On April 3, 2013, it was announced that Toope would leave the UBC presidency effective June 2014 to "pursue academic and professional interests in international law and international relations". In January 2015, Toope became the director of the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Munk School of Global Affairs The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto is an interdisciplinary academic centre located at the St. George campus in Downtown Toronto. It offers various research and educational programs in global affairs ...

. He was named

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian national order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the centennial of Canadian Confederation, the ...

in 2015. On October 1, 2017, he became the 346th person to serve as

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in England, becoming the first non-Briton to do so. He is concurrently

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of international law at the Faculty of Law, a Professorial Fellow of Clare Hall, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College. Toope holds a number of honorary doctorates, including from the University of Alberta, the University of British Columbia, McGill University and the University of Bristol. In 2019, he received an honorary LLD from the

Law Society of Ontario The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LS ...

. The same year, he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. His service to the community includes serving on the boards of organizations that promote human rights and international development, including the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, the World University Service of Canada, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and Canada's

International Development Research Centre The International Development Research Centre (IDRC; , ''CRDI'') is a Canadian federal Crown corporation. As part of Canada's foreign affairs and development efforts, IDRC champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developi ...

(IDRC). In a 2018 op-ed he criticized British politicians for "condemning UK universities as broken and in need of market discipline." During his annual university address, in 2020 he announced Cambridge was removing fossil fuel investments from its portfolio. On September 20, 2021, Toope announced he would be stepping down as vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, two years short of completing his seven-year term. His last day in the role was September 30, 2022. In May 2022, he was selected as the 5th President of Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR), commencing November 1, 2022.

Personal

Toope took up residence in Cambridge in 2018, along with his wife, Paula Rosen, a speech-language pathologist and musical theatre composer. They have three adult children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toope, Stephen 1958 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Canadian Anglicans Canadian university and college chief executives Canadian university and college faculty deans Clerks of the Supreme Court of Canada Fellows of Clare Hall, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Harvard University alumni International law scholars Academic staff of the McGill University Faculty of Law McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Officers of the Order of Canada People from Montreal Presidents of the University of British Columbia Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Members of the Institut de Droit International McGill Law Journal editors