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Grants
Great Grant Stories
Noel Semple
John E. VanDuzer Scholarship Fund
A Note from Mrs. Joan VanDuzer
So many people contributed to this fund established at The Hamilton Community Foundation to promote family law scholarship by Ontario law students, that we thought we would write this short piece to let you know what is happening.
A panel was chosen to review papers submitted by students from all the law schools of Ontario consisting of Justice Mary Lou Benotto (Toronto), Prof. Rollie Thompson (Dalhousie University, Halifax), and Hamilton lawyer Leon Price. Prof. Tony VanDuzer (University of Ottawa) acted as the secretary of the panel They laboured long and hard reviewing the 10 papers submitted. The winner was Noel Semple, a master’s in law student at Osgoode Hall Law School closely followed by Vanessa Amyot, an Osgoode J.D. student. Noel’s paper “The Eye of the Beholder: Professional Opinions about the Best Interests of the Child,” has been accepted for publication in the Family Court Review (Fall, 2010).
The award of $2000 was really a token to acknowledge an outstanding piece of scholarship.
Noel described the impact of this award in this way. “Receiving your prize was such a wonderful boost for me. It was a great encouragement to seek publication of another paper "The Silent Child" (published in Canadian Family Law Quarterly, March 2010). I did indeed have an opportunity to present that work at conferences in 2009. This year, I presented another article, entitled "Whose Best Interests," which came out in the Osgoode Hall Law Journal (summer issue 2010). The VanDuzer prize was a key piece of encouragement and support in getting the paper to this stage, so I wanted to thank you again for that.”
During the autumn term, Noel has been a visiting research fellow at Columbia Law School comparing the systems of divorce law in New York and in Ontario. As an example, he is interested in whether the continuing emphasis on “fault” in the divorce law in New York has an impact on whether and how mediation and adjudication are being blended.
A small reception was held at Osgoode to extend congratulations to Noel.
The winner for this year has been chosen and will be described in a subsequent notice.
John had a dream, a hope that somehow he could encourage the pursuit of excellence in Family Law. Thanks to all who contributed to the fund, and to the Hamilton Community Foundation this dream is becoming reality. He would be proud.