David Taras Graduate Award
Dr. David Taras, professor emeritus of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary and Ralph Klein Chair in Media Studies at Mount Royal University was an intellectual leader in the fields of Canadian mass media studies and Canadian politics – he was an inspiration for peers and generations of students. A scholarship, the David Taras Graduate Award, has been established in honour of Dr. Taras’s distinguished career as a scholar of Canadian identity, communications, and politics.
Before joining Mount Royal University in 2010, David taught at the University of Toronto, the University of Amsterdam and, most recently, the University of Calgary, where he served as the Ernest C. Manning Chair in Canadian Studies. While there, he received the Students' Union Award for Teaching Excellence five times and was inducted into the Teaching Excellence Awards Hall of Fame in 2011.
“David Taras was influential in the lives of so many people,” says Dr. Ted Morton, a professor emeritus of Political Science at the University of Calgary and a long-time friend of David. “He touched the lives of hundreds of students over the course of his long career, guiding young scholars as graduate students and as they went on to become young professionals. He organized many conferences, helping young scholars’ network and form important professional relationships to boost their careers.”
Dr. Ian Brodie, an associate professor in the Department of Political Science who served as former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Chief of Staff agrees. “David was a genuinely gifted teacher on so many subjects - communications, politics, identity - and connected effortlessly with students from every background,” he says. “Amazingly his research and commentary brought him renown across Canada but also in local communities here in Calgary - his insight scaled from neighbourhood and city issues up to the province, the country and beyond.”
Dr. Taras received a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto and was a graduate of the Legislative Internship Program at Queen's Park. He served as an advisor to the Alberta government on national unity and as an expert advisor to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage during its two-year review of Canadian broadcasting policy from 2001 to 2003. He was also president of the Canadian Communications Association and served two terms on the Board of Governors of the University of Calgary. He received the Alberta Centennial Medal in 2005.
A leading expert in Canadian media policy and its relationship to Canadian identity and democracy, he is the author of The Newsmakers: The Media's Influence on Canadian Politics (1990) and of Power & Betrayal in the Canadian Media (2001). He is co-author of The Last Word: Media Coverage of the Supreme Court of Canada (2006) and The End of the CBC (2020).
“When I went into politics, David's commentary could sometimes upset the partisan applecart, but it never hurt our friendship over three decades,” says Dr. Brodie.
Dr. Morton adds: “David was widely known as a wonderful collaborator who was gracious and considerate to those he worked with. He was most interested in helping others. David was one of those rare academics who seemed to lack an ego.”
A scholarship, the David Taras Graduate Award, has been established in honour of Dr. David Taras’s distinguished career as a scholar of Canadian identity, communications, and politics. The scholarship recognizes students from the Faculty of Arts whose research investigates issues related to these themes. Once total contributions reach $25,000.00, an endowment fund will be created. The University is responsible for the management of the fund with the intent that enough income is generated to support the award and to maintain the fund’s real capital value, after inflation, in perpetuity. If the total amount received from all donors does not reach the endowment goal of $25,000.00 by December 31, 2023, the funds will be utilized to fund the award on an annual basis until the funds are completely depleted.