Dr. Abdul Q. Lodhi
Dr. Lodhi was a sterling champion of human rights and social justice. He was a distinguished teacher, scholar and mentor at Saint Thomas University. In addition to teaching and research in which he created strong interests in his students, he earned distinction in being one of the main co-founders of the Atlantic Human Rights Centre as well as its first director, the designer of St. Thomas University’s certificate program in Criminology and Social Justice and the recipient of the annual New Brunswick Human Rights Commission Human Rights Award in 1989. His vision of peace and understanding among peoples, underscoring the celebration of their similarities through respect and acceptance lives on. The Dr. Abdul Qaiyum Lodhi Memorial Lecture and workshop series seek to fulfill his vision of working towards racial tolerance and understanding. Distinguished speakers have included John Edwards, Commissioner of Corrections (1996), The Honorable Senator Erminie J. Cohen (1997), and Moy Tam, Executive Director, Canadian Race Relations Foundation (2000), Errol Mendes, Director of the University of Ottawa Human Rigthts Centre (2004), Wayne MacKay, Professor of Law at Dalhousie University (2005), Senator Mobina Jaffer (2006), Lt. Gov. Mayann Francis (2007), Dr. Ayman AI-Yassini (2008).