Knowledge Matters: Essays in Honour of Bernard J Shapiro

Alexander D. Gregor is director of the Centre for Higher Education
Research and Development at the University of Manitoba and co-editor of
Postsecondary Education in Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

This collection of 10 essays derives from a 2002 conference to honour
Bernard Shapiro on his retirement as principal of McGill University. The
writers, established experts in their respective fields, reflect on
different aspects of the contemporary university and its relationship to
the larger society.

In his excellent introduction, Paul Axelrod, an expert in
higher-education history and policy, puts the various contributions into
a broader historical and contemporary context. He also offers an
engaging essay on the life and work of Bernard Shapiro, whose remarkably
diverse roles have included scholar, university administrator, public
servant, and commissioner of inquiry.

The other essays are grouped under the headings “Perspectives”
(looking fairly specifically at Quebec and McGill), “The University
and Public Policy,” “Learning and Partnership in Knowledge
Development,” and “International Perspectives.”

The authors, who include the eminent president emeritus of the
University of Chicago, Hanna Gray, reflect a nice balance between
“pure” scholars and those who have been engaged in bridging the
world of the university and that of the larger society. The collection,
which includes contributions in both official languages, will be of
primary interest to policy-makers and scholars of higher education.