David Dyzenhaus, a University Professor in the Department of Philosophy and in the Faculty of Law, has received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, his alma mater.
Wits awards honorary doctorates recognizing individuals who have made lasting contributions to their respective fields, advancing knowledge, research and policy that benefit society at large. Dyzenhaus, whom the university described as “one of the most brilliant and most distinguished scholars to have emerged from the Wits School of Law,” is recognized for his outstanding contributions to the study of constitutionalism, the rule of law, and legal theory.
An expert on the works of 17th-century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, Dyzenhaus holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford. His scholarly interests were first shaped by upbringing in pre-democratic South Africa. During apartheid, he completed his bachelor and law degrees at Wits, leading to a career-long fascination of rule of law and administrative law, the substantive area of law he teaches.
Dyzenhaus, who holds U of T’s Albert Abel Chair of Law, joined U of T in 1990. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a corresponding fellow of the British Academy. He has received numerous awards and honours, including a fellowship from the Royal Society of Canada and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2023, he was awarded the Gold Medal, the highest research honour conferred by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Most recently, he received the prestigious Killam Prize for social sciences.
“I am delighted that David Dyzenhaus received this honour for his many contributions to understanding and protecting the role of the rule of law in democratic societies under stress,” states University Professor Arthur Ripstein, the acting chair of the Department of Philosophy. He adds, “I am particularly pleased to have David in our department, because his contributions to law are of a piece with his contributions to philosophy, demonstrating the importance of seemingly abstract issues in legal philosophy to the most pressing problems of legal practice, showing how a commitment to government in accordance with the law is also always a commitment to treating those who are governed as free and equal human beings.”
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