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History
Harry William Arthurs was born in Toronto in 1935 and educated at the University of Toronto, receiving his BA degree in 1955 and his LLB in 1958. He obtained his LLM at Harvard Law School in 1959 and was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1961. He began teaching at Osgoode Hall Law School in 1961, where he has taught courses on labour relations law, administrative law, legal education, the legal profession, civil liberties, globalization, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other subjects. Arthurs has acted as an arbitrator and conciliator in labour disputes since 1962. He has been the Canadian member of the United Auto Workers Public Review Board (1967-1977), Chief Adjudicator for the Public Service of Canada (1967-1968), and Impartial Chairman of both the Men's Garment Industry, Toronto (1967-1983) and the Ladies Garment Industry (1967-1981). His scholarly research reflects his lengthy involvement in the area of labour law; he has also written and spoken extensively on administrative law and public administration, legal pluralism and the sociology of law, and the legal profession, legal history and legal education. He is the author of numerous articles and monographs in these fields. In addition, Arthurs has been widely involved in university government and higher education policy, serving as Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School from 1972 to 1977 and President of York University from 1985 to 1992. He was named University Professor of Law and Political Science and President Emeritus of York University in 1995, and he served as Chair of the Council of Ontario Universities from 1987 to 1989. He was chair and principal author of the reports of committees investigating Legal Research and Education in Canada (1980-1983) and Integrity in Research at Concordia University (1993-1994), and he co-authored the external review of administration at Trent University (1997). Arthurs has been chair or member of many other public, academic, and professional bodies, including President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (1976-1977), Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada (1979-1983), member of the Economic Council of Canada (1978-1981), and Associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (1995- ). He was appointed Commissioner of the Federal Labour Standards Review to examine Part III of the Canada Labour Code in 2004, and headed the Government of Ontario's Expert Commission on Pensions (2007-2008). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1982) and the British Academy (2003), an Officer of the Order of Canada (1989), and a Member of the Order of Ontario (1995). He has been awarded nine honorary degrees by Canadian universities.