Honorary graduates 2010-11

Professor Jane Knight (LLD)

Friday 16 July 2010, 4:30pm

When Jane was just five years old her mother asked why she was digging such a deep hole in the back garden. Jane replied that she wanted to get to China. This was the start of her lifelong interest in China and her passion for learning about and promoting greater understanding of countries and cultures.

After graduating from the University of Western Ontario she worked in the field of child development and child advocacy with the Canadian Council on Children and Youth. This led to a posting at UNESCO in Paris, followed by several years of community work in India and China. After many years abroad Jane returned to Canada and embarked on her PhD. Her research focused on the international dimension of higher education.

Currently, Jane is an adjunct professor at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Her work with universities, UN agencies, foundations, and professional groups in over 60 countries of the world helps to bring a comparative, developmental and international perspective to her research, teaching and policy work. She is the author of numerous publications and sits on the advisory boards of several international organizations and journals. Her focus for the last five years has been on Africa and as co-founder of the African Network for the Internationalization of Education.