By Dr. Arig al Shaibah, Associate Vice-President Equity & Inclusion
On November 3, 2025, the UBC community learned of the passing of Dr. Sharon Kahn, Professor Emerita (Education). On behalf of the Equity & Inclusion Office team at UBC, I want to extend sincere condolences to Dr. Kahn’s family and loved ones. I would also like to recognize Dr. Kahn’s foundation-setting contributions as UBC’s inaugural Associate Vice-President Equity and to share my brief experience with her during a recent meeting.
Last year, while I was conducting some research into the history of equity initiatives at UBC and the rise of senior equity offices in Canadian universities in the last several decades, I was thrilled to learn that, in 1994, Dr. Kahn was appointed as UBC’s first Associate Vice-President Equity, making her one of if not the first such senior academic equity leader in the Canadian university sector. At the time, of course, there was no blueprint for success in that particular role in the Canadian higher education context. To provide a context for her ground-breaking work in this role, the second university to name a formal senior leadership position responsible for equity was the University of Toronto, which was established in 2003, nearly ten years after Dr. Kahn began her appointment.
Intrigued to learn more about her experiences then and reflections now, I reached out to Dr. Kahn through FaceBook in the hopes that she would be interested to meet with me. I was thrilled that she responded right away with enthusiasm. We met in June and had a lovely chat over tea. She humbly accepted my appreciations for paving a path for the succession of AVPs that would follow at UBC, but was much more interested in how I was faring with today’s equity challenges. For me, speaking with Dr. Kahn, however briefly, was a special cross-generational moment that gave me an important sense of connection between past accomplishments, present efforts, and future possibilities for equity work to evolve, endure and, of course, have effect.
Learn more about Dr. Kahn in the “In Memoriam” by the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education within the UBC Faculty of Education.