James J. Orbinski

James J. Orbinski, OC OOnt MSC, is joining Massey College at the University of Toronto as the College’s 7^th Principal beginning January 1, 2025. In connection with his appointment as Principal of Massey College, Principal Orbinski will return to the University of Toronto as Full Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He will be cross-appointed to the Munk School, and to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Principal Orbinski is a Canadian physician, humanitarian activist, author, and scholar in global health. He is currently Professor in the Faculty of Health Science at York University in Toronto, Ontario, where he was founding director of the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research.  Principal Orbinski was previously CIGI Chair in Global Health Governance at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and Wilfrid Laurier University (2012-2017), and prior to that, was Chair of Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health (2010-2012) and full professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto (2003-2012). He is known for his ground-breaking research on medical humanitarianism, infectious diseases, global health governance, and more recently, the health impacts of climate change. He was International Council president of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) at the time the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, which he accepted on behalf of MSF. He has been a Senior Fellow at Massey College for nearly two decades. 

Principal Orbinski received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1984 from Trent University, a Doctor of Medicine in 1990 from McMaster University, and an MA in international relations in 1998 from what was then the Munk Centre for International Studies.

Professor Orbinski will teach an interdisciplinary course on global health and climate change in the MGA program.