Burnet, Jean Robertson
Outstanding Sociologist ~ 1920-2009
Jean Robertson Burnet was born in Owen Sound to John and Jemima Burnet. She received her B.A and M.A. at the University of Toronto, and her Ph.D from the University of Chicago, studying what was once the poorly regarded subject of sociology. Furthermore she was interested in minority studies at a time when minority groups were routinely ignored and sidelined and became a prominent scholar in the subject. She became a professor at University of Toronto shortly after graduation, then went on to help found and chair the Sociology Department of Glendon College, York University.
She was part of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturism, and spent ten years as Chairman of the Canadian Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee on Multiculturism. She helped foment the perception of Canada as a multicultural nation rather than bicultural, an image which continues to this day.
She was a strong advocate for protecting national history and in particular took up the cause of Grosse Île, forming an advisory committee to recommend the island as a National Historic Site, which met with success. She was a founding editor of the Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, and edited several history journals throughout her career. She was the author of Next-Year Country and Ethnic Groups in Upper Canada among other writings.
She was awarded the Order of Canada in 1997; she also received the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Outstanding Contribution Award; the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal; and several honorary degrees from Canadian universities.
