Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship

The society's initial membership included the following founding academic officers:[2]

• Doreen Kimura, PhD, FRSC (Psychology, University of Western Ontario) – president
• Douglas N. Jackson, PhD, FRSC (Psychology, University of Western Ontario) – secretary-treasurer
• Judy Wubnig, PhD (Philosophy, University of Waterloo) – newsletter editor
• C. Davison Ankney, PhD (Zoology, University of Western Ontario) – board member
• John J. Furedy, PhD (Psychology, University of Toronto) – board member.

In its first newsletter, the SAFS listed its central goals as being the defense of intellectual freedom and the promotion of academic excellence. Specifically, it listed the society's founding purposes as being:[5]

(1) To resist the ideological misuse of teaching and scholarship, (2) To support rigorous standards in research and teaching in university hiring practices, and (3) To preserve academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas, regardless of popular doctrine.

Beginning in 2001, the Society began advertising its main purpose as helping to maintain "freedom in teaching, research and scholarship" and helping to defend "high standards of excellence in academic decision making concerning both students and faculty."[6]

The current board of directors is composed as follows:[7]

• Mark Mercer, PhD (Philosophy, Saint Mary's University) – president since 2015
• Janice Fiamengo, PhD (English, University of Ottawa)
• Andrew Irvine, PhD (Economics, Philosophy and Political Science, University of British Columbia)
• Steve Lupker, PhD (Psychology, University of Western Ontario)
• Clive Seligman, PhD (Psychology, University of Western Ontario) – past president
• Peter Suedfeld, PhD, FRSC (Psychology, University of British Columbia)
• Robert Thomas, MA, MLIS (Librarian, University of Regina)
• Frances Widdowson, PhD (Economics, Justice and Policy Studies, Mount Royal University).

Past presidents of the society have been:[8]

• Doreen Kimura, University of Western Ontario (1992–93)
• John J. Furedy, University of Toronto (1993–98)
• Doreen Kimura, Simon Fraser University (1998–2000)
• Clive Seligman, University of Western Ontario (2000–15)

The first SAFS Annual General Meeting was held on 17 May 1994 at the University of Toronto. From then on, keynote speakers and addresses have included:[11]

• 1994: Jack Granatstein (history, York University) – “Academic Freefall: Whatever Happened to Free Speech?”
• 1995: John Fekete (cultural studies and english literature, Trent University) – “Moral Panic: Biopolitics and Academic Freedom”
• 1996: N/A
• 1997: Barry Smith (philosophy, SUNY at Buffalo) – “The Open Society and Its New (Multiculturalist) Enemies”
• 1998–99: N/A
• 2001: Margaret Wente (columnist, Globe and Mail) – “Moral Panics and The Media,” Margaret Wente (Globe and Mail)
• 2002: Alan Kors (history, University of Pennsylvania; president & co-founder, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE) – “Betrayal of Liberty and Dignity on America’s Campuses”
• 2003: Frederick Lowy (rector and vice-chancellor, Concordia University) – “Defending Academic Freedom in the Politicized University,”
• 2004: N/A
• 2005: Stephen Balch (president, National Association of Scholars) – “Reopening the Intellectual Marketplace in Academe”
• 2006: Salim Mansur (political science, University of Western Ontario) – “Has The Danish Cartoon Controversy Pushed The World To A Tipping Point In The Clash Or Crash Of Civilizations?”
• 2007: James Turk (executive director, Canadian Association of University Teachers) – “Academic Freedom”
• 2008: Anton Allahar and Jim Côté (sociology, University of Western Ontario) – “Ivory Tower Blues: A University System in Crisis”
• 2009: Barbara Kay (columnist, National Post) – “Manipulating Debate: Anti-Israel Rhetoric and Political Activism on Universities Worldwide”
• 2010: no meeting
• 2011: John Carpay (founder & president, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms) – “Freedom of Speech on Canadian Campuses”
• 2012: Gábor Lukács (fmr. mathematics, University of Manitoba) – “Is Academic Integrity adequately promoted by Academic Governance, Collective Bargaining, and Judicial Review?”
• 2013: Peter Wood (president, National Association of Scholars) – “What does Bowdoin teach? An examination of the current content of a liberal arts college”
• 2014: Greg Lukianoff (president, FIRE) – “Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate”
• 2015: Janice Fiamengo (English, University of Ottawa) – “From Micro-Aggression to BDS: Can Humanities Education Be Saved from Social Justice?”
• 2016: Donald Alexander Downs (political science, law, and journalism, University of Wisconsin–Madison; director & co-founder, Wisconsin Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy) – “Challenges to Academic Freedom: Anything New Under the Sun?”
• 2017: Jordan Peterson (psychology, University of Toronto; clinical psychologist) – “Why freedom of speech is not just another value”
• 2018: Gad Saad (evolutionary psychology; marketing, John Molson School of Business) – “A Tsunami of Maladies Afflicting the Soul of Our Universities”
• 2019: Rachel Fulton Brown (history, University of Chicago) – “Is Academia Good for the Soul?”
• 2020: Samir Gandesha (humanities, Simon Fraser University) – “Is Academic Freedom Under Attack in the Canadian University?”
• 2021 (May 21): Tomáš Hudlický (chemistry, Brock University) – Hudlický will discuss what happened after a journal pulled his critique of trends in chemistry research and teaching.[12]