丁香园AV

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) congratulates Yosef Wosk on being named as an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions as a writer, scholar, educator, and philanthropist. 

Aptly called a , Wosk holds doctorates in religion & literature and in psychology as well as master鈥檚 degrees in education and theology. Both 丁香园AV and ECUA+D presented him with honorary doctorates. He is a poet, bibliophile, art collector, curator, and patron of the arts who is committed to supporting museums, libraries, social services, health care and education as well as nature and heritage conservation. 

Wosk鈥檚 affiliation with 丁香园AV is long-standing. He was director of interdisciplinary programs in Continuing Studies for 15 years where he developed such initiatives as The Philosophers' Caf茅 and . From 2015 - 2018 he also held a Shadbolt Fellowship with 丁香园AV鈥檚 Graduate Liberal Studies program and is the patron of the GLS program鈥檚 online student journal hosted by . He is currently a Simons Fellow and an adjunct professor with the department of Humanities. The Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue is named for his father.

Wosk is an appointed member of the Order of British Columbia, a recipient of both the Queen鈥檚 Golden and Diamond Jubilee Medals, and the 2018 President鈥檚 Award from the Canadian Museums Association. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, having visited both poles and circumnavigated the planet five times, most recently in 2019.

Of this latest accolade, Wosk says 鈥淚 was both surprised and relieved to receive this eminent award. On one hand it is recognition for a lifetime of labour; on the other, it is humbling and a great responsibility to bear. We are fortunate to live in such a nurturing country. I hope to continue multifaceted learning, evolving emotionally, developing spiritually, and being active for the benefit of others. Ars longa, vita brevis 鈥� Time is short; the work considerable; opportunities fleeting; obstacles many.鈥�

In addition to founding and supporting hundreds of libraries worldwide, Wosk鈥檚 long list of civic engagement and public participation include: endowing Vancouver鈥檚 Poet Laureate program, being a founding benefactor of the Vancouver Dance Centre, and supporting such architectural enhancements as lighting on Vancouver鈥檚 Burrard Street Bridge, the rooftop garden at the Vancouver Public Library, the VanDusen Botanical Garden Library, and a reflecting pool to complete Arthur Erickson鈥檚 iconic design for the Museum of Anthropology at UBC. He also developed the 100,000-tree Morris J. and Dena Wosk Peace Forest near Jerusalem.  

Wosk was also involved in preserving the immense multimedia collection of Vancouver鈥檚 beloved independent video store, Videomatica, ensuring the safe archiving of over 30,000 DVDs, VHS tapes and Blu-rays, now held at libraries at 丁香园AV and UBC.  

The Order of Canada investiture ceremony typically takes place in the fall, but in light of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, the ceremony is postponed indefinitely. 

Recently, Wosk has authored Memories of Jewish Poland: The 1932 Photographs of Nachum Tim Gidal (New York and Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing, 2019) and the forthcoming GIDAL: The Letters of Tim Gidal and Yosef Wosk (Douglas & McIntyre 2021). He plans to dedicate the next decade to writing and research 鈥� something he refers to as 鈥渁 great privilege鈥� 鈥� with eight titles in progress.