The election of Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Vice-Chair of the VOFG International Commission and Full Professor of Law at the University of Waterloo, to a prestigious senior Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) - Academy of Social Sciences was announced this month. Nominated by their peers and institutions for their outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement, Fellowship in an Academy of the Royal Society is one of the highest academic honours that a Canadian can be awarded in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Sciences.
Professor Cordonier Segger’s election laudation credits her work as a pioneering professor and renowned jurist in sustainable development law and governance, advancing innovative responses to climate change, biodiversity protection, natural resources management, indigenous rights, intergenerational justice, and other global sustainability challenges while interactionally informing treaty design, implementation, compliance and dispute settlement.
As Vice-Chair of the VOFG International Commission and award-winning founder or chair of several world-spanning institutions, associations, and councils, she leads an inspiring portfolio of global research, engagement, and dialogue initiatives. Her ground-breaking scholarly publications include the textbook Sustainable Development Law (Oxford University Press); Athena’s Treaties (Oxford University Press); Sustainable Development in World Investment Law (Wolters Kluwer); Sustainable Development in International Courts and Tribunals (Routledge) and the influential Treaty Implementation for Sustainable Development series (Cambridge University Press). With courage and commitment, she serves on the International Law Association, the World Future Council and the IUCN World Commission of Environmental Law, on the boards of leading companies, foundations and law journals, and on the juries of several academic councils and scholarships. She is also laureate of the HE Judge CG Weeramantry International Justice Award, the Justitia Regnorum Fundamentum Prize and other international awards.
“The Royal Society of Canada is delighted to welcome this outstanding cohort of artists, scholars, and scientists. These individuals are recognised for their exceptional contributions to their respective disciplines and are a real credit to Canada,” said RSC President Jeremy McNeil.
Professor Cordonier Segger responded to news of the honour, stating
“This is an incredible honour to be recognised and welcomed into this community of leading scholars. I am deeply grateful to my brilliant colleagues, globally, for our decades of inspiring research, innovation, knowledge and awareness-raising collaborations that have advanced our field so profoundly, as well as to my family for their encouragement and support.”
Founded in 1882, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguished Canadian scholars, humanists, scientists and artists. The primary objective of the RSC is to promote learning and research in the arts, the humanities and the sciences. The RSC is Canada's National Academy and exists to promote Canadian research and scholarly accomplishment in both official languages, to recognize academic and artistic excellence, and to advise governments, non-governmental organizations and Canadians on matters of public interest. Fellows are elected by their peers for their outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement.
Recognition by the RSC for career achievement is the highest honour an individual can achieve in the Arts, Social Sciences and Sciences in Canada. The RSC promotes a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national academies around the world, and the fellowship represents a stunning landscape of talent, imagination, discipline, and discovery.