Joyce Zemans - Biography

Joyce Zemans is a Senior Scholar and University Professor Emerita at York University and a member of the Order of Canada. She holds honorary degrees from the University of Waterloo, the Nova Scotia of Art and Design and is an Honorary Fellow of the Ontario College of Art and Design. She is director of the MBA Program in Arts and Media Administration in the Schulich School of Business. From 1988 to 1992, Zemans was the Director of the Canada Council. She served as the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at York University (1985-88) and has served as Acting Director of the MBA Program in Non-Profit Management and Leadership (2000-01 and 2008-09). From 1966 to 1975 she taught Art History at the Ontario College of Art, where she also served as Chair of the Department of Art History and later of the Liberal Arts Studies. Prof. Zemans came to York in 1975 when she was appointed Chair of the Visual Arts Department (1975-81). She has also served as Acting Director of the Graduate Program in Art History (1994-95).

She held the Robarts Chair in Canadian Studies (1995-96). Since 1992, Professor Zemans' research has focused on both art history and cultural policy with specific reference to the Canadian experience. A former member of the board of the UAAC and editor of the UAAC Women's Caucus Newsletter, she currently serves as a member of the board of the Institute for Studies in Canadian Art at Concordia University and of the Advisory Boards of the Toronto Arts Council and the Creative Trust, among others. Zemans' art historical research and curatorial practice have focused on twentieth century Canadian art with special reference to the development of abstraction in Canada and the work of Canadian women artists.