Professor Bahdi to Receive Guthrie Award

Professor Reem Bahdi

The Law Foundation of Ontario will honour Windsor Law professor, Reem Bahdi, as the 2017 recipient of the esteemed Guthrie Award.

The Guthrie Award, established in 1996, is awarded annually and recognizes an outstanding individual in the legal field for their significant contributions towards access to justice.

Bahdi, a former Associate Dean at Windsor Law (2012-2015) and human rights expert, will join the legacy of leaders who have been recognized for their efforts in improving access to justice.

Professor Bahdi has dedicated her career and life to furthering access to justice locally and globally and is the only Palestinian-Canadian law professor. Her research focuses on human rights of Arabs and Muslims in Canada and Palestinian judicial education. She has produced extensive scholarship and literature throughout her career that continues to aid national and international policy discussion and supplement research.

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. Allan Wildeman, University of Windsor President and Vice-Chancellor, nominated Professor Bahdi for the award and testifies that “she has lived and breathed access to justice, and is a role model to the students, scholars and profession.”

Her work is inspiring and educational. It has steered transformative developments to the Palestinian justice system, developed a model for judicial education to advance human rights in West Bank and helped form Windsor Law’s mandatory access to justice course.

Bahdi continues to lead the way for access to justice through her research, teachings and humanitarian initiatives. Whether in the courtroom or classroom, her passion is evident and she credits her motivation to those around her. “I am inspired regularly by colleagues and students at the University of Windsor,” says Bahdi. “My biggest inspiration has been my mother.  She raised three children as a single mother and taught us the value of hard work, community, and commitment. I hope to one day live up to her example.”

The feeling is mutual. “Even at Windsor Law, where access to justice (A2J) is our primary institutional theme, Professor Bahdi stands out as a leading light,” says Dean of Law, Christopher Waters. “Her contributions to legal education are multi-faceted. From innovative teaching to mentoring, and from cutting-edge research to equity-led administrative service, Professor Bahdi has been in the forefront of not only interrogating A2J on a theoretical plain, but in making our institutional theme a lived one for faculty, staff, and students.” 

Please join us in congratulating Reem.