Ran Hirschl has been appointed a University Professor, an elite designation bestowed on a small number of University of Toronto faculty members for distinguished scholarly achievement and pre-eminence in their fields.
A professor in the Department of Political Science, Hirschl is internationally regarded as an intellectual pioneer of comparative constitutional studies — a cross-disciplinary area of inquiry that explores the dynamic interaction, mutual influence, and power relations between the constitutional domain and the political sphere within which it operates.
“The University of Toronto owes much of its reputation for excellence to its world-class professors, and I am delighted that Ran Hirschl — one of our finest faculty members — has been recognized as a University Professor,” says Vice-President & Provost Trevor Young. “The title 'University Professor' is U of T's highest and most distinguished academic rank, which reflects Professor Hirschl’s long and honourable record of scholarly achievement.”
Hirschl began his academic career at the University of Toronto as a Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Constitutionalism, Democracy and Development. He is currently the David R. Cameron Distinguished Professor in Law and Politics, studying Canadian and comparative public law. He is also an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and considered one of the world’s leading scholars of comparative constitutional law, courts and jurisprudence.
Hirschl has attracted over $7.5 million in competitive research grants, including a Killam Fellowship and a coveted Alexander von Humboldt International Research Award, the most highly-endowed research award in Germany.
“It is a tremendous honour to be recognized in this special way, and to have my name added to the long list of distinguished, world-class scholars at the University of Toronto who embody the University’s ‘defying gravity’ maxim,” said Hirschl.
Hirschl is the author of 150 articles and book chapters as well as four key monographs, each of which won a major book award. He is also the past recipient of a University of Toronto teaching award, and the APSA & Pi Sigma Alpha certificate for outstanding teaching in political science. The co-editor of a Cambridge University Press book series on comparative constitutional law and policy, his work has been translated into numerous languages, cited by jurists and in high court decisions worldwide, and featured widely in the media.