The Charles D. Gonthier Outstanding Young Alumni Award
Today the Faculty of Law announces the creation of the Charles D. Gonthier Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which recognizes emerging leaders among recent alums of the Faculty.
Created by the Young Alumni Advisory Board (YAAB) in complement to the F.R. Scott and James Robb awards, this new prize will underscore the significant contributions by a alum who has graduated within the past decade. It rewards those who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and set an inspirational example for aspiring jurists, whether through professional achievement, community service or commitment to the Faculty of Law.
Incoming co-chairs Doree Levine and Marc-André Sansregret explain, “The award is a unique opportunity to both thank and recognize outstanding individuals who have contributed to the McGill law community and who have set themselves apart in the first ten years since their graduation. It will also raise awareness among the McGill law community of the growing network of young alumni that remain connected to the Faculty.”
The award is named after the honourable Charles Doherty Gonthier, CC, BCL’51, LLD’90. Appointed to the Quebec Superior Court in 1974, to the Quebec Court of Appeal in 1988 and to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1989, the honourable Charles Gonthier retired from the Court in 2003. He is now counsel at McCarthy Tétrault and Wainwright Senior Fellow at McGill’s Faculty of Law, where he teaches and does research in the law of sustainable development and the environment.
Dean Nicholas Kasirer adds, “Justice Gonthier has championed young people all through his career, and the Faculty joins the YAAB in paying tribute to a colleague and a mentor of many of Canada’s best jurists. Since he has joined the Faculty as Wainwright Fellow, Justice Gonthier has put young people first. Late into the evenings and at Saturday morning student conferences, in the classroom and as an after-hours editor, he has patiently advised and helped young jurists in a hundred different ways as they pursue their fondest dreams in law at McGill. ”
The first recipient of the Charles D. Gonthier Award will be revealed on September 21, 2008, during the Young Alumni BBQ event, which will be held on the front lawn of the Faculty of Law.