Canada Research Chairs | Queen's Research Chairs

Professor Jerome E. Bickenbach

Queen's Research Chair
Department of Philosophy               

Professor Bickenbach is one of the foremost international authorities on ethical, philosophical, and legal issues in disability policy. His work addresses the need to conceptualize disability and related notions, to establish priorities for intervention and support within the category of disability as well as between it and other needs, and to devise legal frameworks for recognizing disability and for dealing with trade-offs.

Working at the intersection of ethics, law and public policy, Professor Bickenbach has accumulated a distinguished record of interdisciplinary research. He is the recipient of, or co-investigator for, several research grants and awards totalling over one million dollars in value, funded by diverse agencies such as the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) and US Centers for Disease Control, as well as the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). His strong publication record includes sole authorship of two highly-regarded volumes: Canadian Cases in the Philosophy of Law is in its third edition; Physical Disability and Social Policy (1993), is regarded within several disciplines as one of the main references in disability studies. Professor Bickenbach’s pre-eminence in the field is evidenced by his service as an Expert Witness before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Status of the Disabled, as well as his recent appointment as Associate Editor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Disability.

Professor Bickenbach’s impressive interdisciplinary profile is also reflected in his teaching and supervisory responsibilities. He has taught a rich repertoire of courses in philosophy, law and medicine, in addition to courses in the School of Policy Studies and the School of Urban and Regional Planning. He has supervised two dozen Master's theses in philosophy, law, public administration, and industrial relations, and has served on examining committees for forty Master's and Doctoral candidates.

Professor Bickenbach’s international stature is evidenced through his acclaimed work with the World Health Organization (WHO). The application of his analysis of disability has illuminated the review and revision of major WHO initiatives in health assessment, culminating in the development of the International Classification of Functioning. A recent holder of a prestigious Killam Research Fellowship, Professor Bickenbach was also the first humanities scholar to be awarded a Bora Laskin National Fellowship for Human Rights Research.

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