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The University of Toronto Faculty of Law Class of 2021 has given Professor Martha Shaffer the Mewett Teaching Award, presented annually to a faculty member for excellence in teaching.

Shaffer was also chosen to deliver the send-off speech to the class – an honour she has held several times.

The graduating class recognized Shaffer for her welcoming teaching style, her clarity and commitment to ensuring students understood her lessons, and the empathy she showed students during the pandemic.

Widely regarded as a passionate instructor, Shaffer teaches criminal law, evidence law and legal methods, and has taught family law as well as courses on cultural diversity and gender issues. She writes in the areas of family and criminal law, with a focus on gender, violence against women, and on the use of social science evidence to inform legal reasoning. She holds law degrees from Harvard and U of T.

“Thank you, Class of 2021, for honouring me with the Mewett Award and with the opportunity to say a few words of hail and farewell as you leave the Law Faculty,” Shaffer said.

“As some of my colleagues and I often say, the best part of teaching at U of T Law is interacting with our students. You are a remarkable group of people: smart, talented, caring and engaged. It has been a privilege and an honour to have gotten to know you – in person and virtually – during your time at U of T.”