Spiros Vavougios joins Lincoln Alexander Law as Assistant Dean, Student Programming and Equity

We are pleased to welcome Spiros Vavougios as Assistant Dean, Student Programming and Equity at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law.

Spiros brings significant professional knowledge and experience to this role, including his past work on EDI-related issues, his ongoing engagement with our students as an instructor and mentor, and his astute understanding of university policy and governance matters.

Since 2020, Spiros has served as Legal Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel and Board Secretariat at Toronto Metropolitan University. In this capacity, he has provided legal and strategic advice in the human rights, administrative law, litigation, employment, corporate, safety and security, privacy, and academic policy portfolios. Over the years, he has been a trusted advisor to senior leaders, their portfolios, faculties, and inter-departmental teams, advising on complex issues and liabilities, and managing risk. For his exceptional client service and outstanding contributions to the university, Spiros received the Julia Hanigsberg Make Your Mark Award in 2022.

Spiros is also a valued community member at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law. He has served as a contract lecturer for JUR108: Introduction to Administrative and Regulatory Law and as a guest lecturer on Neurodiversity within the Legal Profession for JUR 404: Emotional Quotient and Cultural Quotient (EQ/CQ) Intensive. For the last several years, he has also supervised law students who completed their professional placement in the Office of the General Counsel and Board Secretariat at TMU.

Giving back to the legal profession and the broader community is important to Spiros; he is a member of the Canadian Association of University Solicitors and the Council of Ontario Universities, where he previously served as Vice-Chair, Legal Counsel Group. He has also previously volunteered as a Program Coordinator for Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention at the University of Toronto.

Spiros holds a BA in Equity Studies and Political Science from the University of Toronto, a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a LLM from Yale Law School, where his graduate research focused on constitutional history, anti-discrimination law, and free speech. He is also a proud alumnus of Toronto Metropolitan University's Law Practice Program (LPP).

By assuming the assistant deanship, Spiros will provide strategic leadership and oversight for co-curriculum development, experiential learning, recruitment, admissions, financial assistance, career services - and vitally, student health and well-being. He will bring a critical, anti-oppressive, and social justice perspective to this portfolio, and cultivate an open and productive relationship with the student body. His first day at the law school will be November 4, 2024.