Professor Johnny Mack has been appointed Academic Director at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC), effective May 1, 2025, for a three-year term. Situated at the intersection of academic inquiry, historical truth-telling, and community engagement, the IRSHDC plays a vital role in advancing UBC’s academic mission by supporting Indigenous Peoples’ rights to truth, justice, and healing. By centering Survivor experiences, stewarding access to Residential School records, and advancing Indigenous-led scholarship, the Centre fosters deeper understanding of colonial histories and their ongoing impacts, while contributing to the decolonization of education and the broader academic landscape.
Johnny Mack (Heynahmeek) is Nuu-chah-nulth from the Toquaht Nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia, where he also serves as a Co-Director of Indigenous Legal Studies.
Professor Mack’s research explores Indigenous legal traditions, settler law, legal pluralism, and Indigenous–state relations, with particular attention to the epistemic and political structures that shape recognition, resurgence, and law. His work has appeared in law, business, and interdisciplinary journals, and he is the author of Turning Sideways: Intimate Critique and the Regeneration of Tradition (2024), which anchors his current book project. He is also Co-Director of the Balance Co-lab, an Indigenous-led international research collective that supports Indigenous self-determination by co-developing decision-making tools, research, and impact assessment processes grounded in Indigenous values and legal orders. The Co-lab’s work spans Turtle Island, Aotearoa, and Latin America, and is supported by a $2.5M SSHRC Partnership Grant.
A dedicated educator, Professor Mack has been honoured with both the George Curtis Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence and a UBC Killam Teaching Prize. His PhD studies were supported by a Joseph-Armand Bombardier SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship and a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarship. He currently serves on the Indigenous Community Leaders Circle with the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia.
I would also like to thank Dr. Tricia Logan for serving as the interim Academic Director of the Centre since the Fall of 2022. During her time as Academic Director, Dr. Logan oversaw a wide range of publications, events, and relationship-building between the Centre and Survivor communities. She has been an invaluable member of the team, infusing all of her work with wisdom, care, and commitment.
Dr. Logan would like to welcome Professor Mack to the role: “At the IRSHDC, our community of support, care and of Indigenous knowledge holders has grown over the years, and it is so exciting to welcome Professor Mack into his new role and into this community. I’m honoured to be a continuing part of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre’s community and excited for the staff and all those affiliated with the Centre to imagine new work, along with Johnny’s expertise and enthusiasm. Professor Mack and I have talked about the ongoing work with Survivors, intergenerational Survivors and Indigenous community members. I know the knowledge and teachings he carries with him have prepared him well for the responsibilities and opportunities ahead.”
I welcome Professor Mack to this new role and look forward to working with him and the entire team at the Centre as they continue to uplift, honour and support Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors. Again, the IRSHDC plays a critical role in cultivating academic excellence and impact in a global context—advancing UBC’s commitments to academic community by supporting faculty as educators, researchers, and mentors, while deepening engagement with Indigenous knowledges and communities. This appointment also reflects our ongoing efforts to activate the Indigenous Strategic Plan across the academic ecosystem and to ensure that inclusive, responsive scholarship remains central to UBC’s purpose.
Gage Averill
Provost & Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver
About the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre
The Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) at UBC addresses the colonial impacts of Residential Schools and other policies imposed by the Canadian government on Indigenous Peoples, and ensures that this history is acknowledged, examined and understood within the UBC community. The Centre helps provide access to records and information for Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors of the Residential School system. They also work with partners at UBC and beyond to encourage dialogue about the Residential School system and the on-going repercussions of colonialism in Canada. To learn more about the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, please visit https://irshdc.ubc.ca/