Current chairholder:

Professor Gemma Smyth has been appointed as the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan, H. Robert Arscott Chair for a six month term beginning January 1, 2023.

Professor Gemma Smyth is Associate Professor and Externship Director at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, on the territories of the Three Fires Confederacy. Professor Smyth has held various positions at the Faculty including Associate Dean (Academic), Academic Clinic Director and Director of University of Windsor Mediation Services. She teaches, researches and writes in areas related to clinic law, dispute resolution, lawyering skills, and legal education. Professor Smyth is the co-author of the first text on clinical legal education in Canada, with Professors Sarah Buhler and Sarah Marsden. She is Past President of the Association for Canadian Clinical Legal Education, a national collaborative working on issues related to clinical and experiential legal education in Canada.

About the chair:

The Law Foundation of Saskatchewan Chair was established in 1989 under an agreement between the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan and the University of Saskatchewan. The chair was renamed the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan H. Robert Arscott Chair in 2014 in honour of H. Robert (Bob) Arscott, F.C.A., who served as secretary of the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan from 1973 until his retirement in 2013.

Income from the endowment for the chair is used to remunerate its holder, the Law Foundation of Saskatchewan Professor, and to support teaching and research at the graduate and undergraduate level at the college.

The wide terms of reference for this chair accommodate appointments in any area of law or in law and policy. Incumbents are accomplished legal scholars or other outstanding persons with a background in law and a demonstrated interest in scholarly investigation and practice relating to issues in law and policy. Although the holder of the chair has teaching duties, she or he will also engage in research and other scholarly activities, such as conferences and special seminars related to the chair. 

Past chairs

Dr. Annie Rochette (January 2022 - December 2022)
Dr. Kent McNeil (July 2019 - December 2019)
Dr. Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter, Esq. (August 2015 - August 2016)
Professor Christine Zuni Cruz (July 2014 - August 2015)
Professor John Wade (July 2013 - June 2014)
Watch Professor Wade's Negotiation Breakfast Series lectures
Dr. Sydney L. Harring (August 2012 - December 2012)
Dr. Richard Bauman (January 2009 - June 2009)
Dr. John Whyte (January 2008 - December 2008) 
Honourable Mr. Justice Grant Hammond (September 2006 - December 2006)
Professor Judy Fudge (January 2004 - July 2004)
Professor Denise Reaume (January 2003 - June 2003) 
Professor Julien Payne, QC (July 1999 - January 2001)
Dr. Alan C. Cairns (January 1997 - December 1998)
Professor Michael Taggart (January - December 1996)
Dr. Sydney L. Harring (July 1994 - June 1995)
Dr. Richard Gosse, QC (January 1993 - June 1994)
Dr. Allan Blakeney, QC, PC, OC (July 1990 - June 1992)

Current chairholder:

Catherine Bell joins the College of Law as the Ariel F. Sallows Chair in Human Rights from Sept. 1, 2022 - Aug 31, 2023 

Catherine Bell is a graduate of the College of Law, University of Saskatchewan (class of 85) and Professor Emerita of Law at the University of Alberta where she taught from 1989 -2021. Her research focuses on Indigenous constitutional rights, cultural heritage law and Indigenous research ethics. She also developed the Faculty’s Low Income Clinical Law Program and the Indigenous Justice Externship Program on Gladue Sentencing Principles. She has been a visitor at national and international universities and helped develop and deliver Indigenous legal education courses across Canada, including with the Program of Legal Studies for Native People (University of Saskatchewan), Akitsiraq Law School (University of Victoria), Nunavut Law Program (University of Saskatchewan), the Joint Indigenous Law Degree Program (University of Victoria) and the Banff Center for Management Aboriginal Leadership and Self-Government Program. She recently served as a member of the Alberta Court’s Gladue Workshop Committee, the Canadian Museums Association Indigenous Reconciliation Council and is on the Board of the Indigenous Heritage Circle – a national Indigenous led organization dedicated to furthering understanding and respect for Indigenous heritage stewardship, laws, and values in Canada.

Professor Bell is published widely in Indigenous rights and has worked in collaboration with Métis, First Nation, Inuit, federal, provincial, and international governments bodies and organizations. Recent projects include with the First Peoples’ Cultural Council of BC on legislation impacting First Nations heritage; the Canadian Museums Association on application of United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to museum policy and practice; and developing collaborative projects globally as a member of the Steering Committee for the Intellectual Property in Cultural Heritage Project. Her current research focuses on UNDRIP and heritage law reform in Canada.

In 2012, Professor Bell was awarded the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Governor General’s Gold Medal recognizing her outstanding contributions to law and legal education in Canada.  

About the chair:

In January 1979 the late Ariel F. Sallows, QC, of North Battleford, Saskatchewan signed a trust agreement ensuring the future establishment of a chair funded from his estate. The Ariel F. Sallows Chair of Human Rights is the first endowed chair at the College of Law, and the first endowed chair of human rights in any college of law in Canada. The chair, called the Sallows Professor of Human Rights, supports courses and research in human rights at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Past chairs

Rachel Loewen Walker (July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2022)
Paul Finkelman (January 2016 - December 2016)
Kim Pate (July 2014 - December 2015)
Dr. Siobhan Wills (July 2013 - December 2013) 
Ms. Mary Eberts (January 2011 - December 2012)
Dr. John Whyte (July 2010 - December 2010)
Dr. Roy Adams (July 2009 - June 2010)
Dr. Marilou McPhedran (January 2007 - December 2007)
Dr. Penny Andrews (January 2005 - December 2005)
Francisco Forrest Martin (July 2000 - June 2002)
Professor John Foster (July 1997 - June 1999)
Professor Shelley Wright (January 1996 - December 1996)
Dr. Rebecca Wallace (January 1994 - June 1994)
Dr. Nihal Jayawickrama (July 1992 - June 1993)
Mr. Martin Ennals (July 1991 - October 1991)
Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (July 1988 - June 1991)
Mr. Paul J. Mahoney (February 1988 - July 1988)
Dr. Virginia Leary (July 1986 - December 1987)

Current chairholder:

Professor Anna Lund has been appointed to the Estey Chair in Business Law for a 6-month term beginning January 1, 2023.

Anna Lund (she/her/hers) is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Alberta. She researches and teaches in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency, debtor creditor law, civil procedure, access to justice, and housing.

Dr Lund's current research interests include foreclosures, medical bankruptcy, and alternative incorporated forms. Her book Trustees at Work: Financial Pressures, Emotional Labour, and Canadian Bankruptcy Law was published in December 2019 by the University of British Columbia Press. The Supreme Court of Canada has cited her work on environmental liabilities in insolvency law. She has articles forthcoming in the McGill Law Journal on the Mountain Equipment Cooperative insolvency proceedings; in the Dalhousie Law Journal comparing employment insurance and personal insolvency law; and in the University of British Columbia Law Review on using the oppression remedy to resolve disputes in religious communities. 

About the chair:

The Estey Chair in Business Law was established in 2012 by John and Bill Estey in honour of their father, the late Willard “Bud” Estey, former Justice of Supreme Court of Canada. Their donation of $2 million is the largest-ever private donation to the college. Chairholders are expected to teach business law courses within the college, conduct high quality research in their field of expertise and share their knowledge and insight by engaging in outreach activities with the wider legal community.

The Estey Chair in Business Law is intended to attract outstanding scholars in the area of business law. Chairholders will be expected to teach business law courses within the college, conduct world-class research in their field, as well as share their expertise and engage in outreach activities with the wider legal community.

Past chairs

Michael W. Milani, KC (July 2022 - Dec 2022)
Professor Cally Jordan (August 2015 - June 2017)
Professor Roderick Wood (July 2014 - June 2015)