Professor Elizabeth Dhuey will join the Toronto Region Statistics Canada Research Data Centre

A Message from Professor Leah Cowen, Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives

February 22, 2023

 

I am delighted to announce that Professor Elizabeth Dhuey will join the Toronto Region Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (RDC) as the Director, from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2028.

 

The Toronto RDC is part of the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) a national network of centres offering secure access to Statistics Canada's detailed microdata including census data and administrative data sets. The Director, Toronto RDC provides leadership and direction to the on-site operations of the Toronto RDC, located on the 7th floor of Robarts Library, under the administrative structure of the Division of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation. The Director is also deeply involved with the CRDCN Board and in the coming years will be focused on supporting the development and roll out of a virtual Research Data Centre (vRDC) IT platform to provide researchers with enhanced (on-site and remote) access to the Statistics Canada microdata.

 

Elizabeth Dhuey is an associate professor of economics at the University of Toronto. Her primary appointment is at the Department of Management at the University of Toronto, Scarborough. She also holds non-budgetary cross-appointments at OISE in the Department of Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education, the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the Department of Economics, and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Elizabeth’s research focuses on the economics of education. In particular she focuses on three main areas: (1) the early years of children’s development; (2) special education financing; and (3) education and training for the future world of work. She is the Co-Director of FutureSkills Canada and the Academic Director of the Research Initiative in Education + Skills (RIES). Throughout her career, Professor Dhuey’s research program has included deep engagement with the Toronto RDC and as the Academic Director of RIESS, she worked to coordinate the formation of partnerships of researchers and teams of technical analysts to answer a variety of research questions related to education and skills using RDC data. Her leadership experience also includes service as the inaugural chair of the Canadian Women Economists Committee, as a voting member of the executive committee of the Canadian Economic Association, and on the board of directors for the Association for Education Finance and Policy.

 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Daniel Silver who has provided phenomenal service and leadership to the Toronto RDC team and the U of T community throughout his 5-year term, ending on June 30, 2023. Under Professor Silver’s leadership the Toronto RDC grew its user base by approximately 15%, expanded to include researchers from more fields, especially public health and medicine, and continued to successfully secure and shepherd resources from SSHRC, CIHR, Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and partner universities. As a member of the CRDCN Board he represented both U of T and national interests and was a key supporter and advocate for development of the vRDC platform, including agreeing for U of T to serve as a pilot institution. In addition to his critical leadership, I want to highlight his tireless work during the pandemic to ensure that researchers had uninterrupted and safe access to critical datasets via the RDC.  Thank you, Professor Silver, for your time and service, and your commitment to this role.