UVic's Cecilia Benoit wins prestigious Molson Prize

From midwives and sex workers, to unhoused people and those who use illicit drugs, Cecilia Benoit’s lifetime in academia and advocacy has been dedicated to groups who are often marginalized in Canadian society. Now, the UVic sociology professor and researcher at the Canadian Institute of Substance Use Research at UVic has been awarded the 2022 Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize for the Social Sciences and Humanities.

In receiving this prestigious prize, Benoit joins more than 100 celebrated Canadians, from authors Margaret Atwood and Richard Wagamese, to musician Glenn Gould and artist Bill Reid. Two prizes of $50,000 are awarded each year, one in the arts and the other in the social sciences or humanities. This is not the first Molson Prize for UVic; previous recipients include John Borrows (law), Mary Kerr (theatre) and Angus McLaren (history).

Funded from a $1-million endowment by the Molson Family Foundation, the Molson Prizes are administered by the Canada Council for the Arts in conjunction with the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Read the UVic News story about Benoit and her long career—a career marked by empathy, curiosity and scholarly rigour.

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A media kit containing high-resolution photos is available on Dropbox.