Irehobhude O. Iyioha

Dr. Irehobhude O. Iyioha (‘Ireh Iyioha’) is the inaugural Hon. Selwyn Romilly UBC Professor of Race and Access to Justice at the Peter A. Allard School of Law and the inaugural UNESCO Chair on Health, Race and Human Rights at the University of British Columbia. She is also a Full Professor of Health Ethics with the adjunct faculty at the Dossetor Centre for Health Ethics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta and a Visiting Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, where she teaches in the Osgoode PD Master of Laws Program. Most recently, she served as an Associate of the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University.

Prior to joining Allard Law, she taught at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law from 2019 to 2024—making history as a record-setting recipient of reappointment, tenure and promotion in a single motion passed by the university and in record time. She has held teaching positions at the Faculties of Law at Western University, the University of Alberta, and the University of British Columbia. 

She has served as Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Department of Philosophy; Nathanson Visiting Fellow at the Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights at Osgoode Hall Law School; Visiting Scholar at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law; Visiting Academic at the University of Alberta; and Liu Scholar at the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia’s School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. 

Her scholarship focuses on the limits and effectiveness of law. Drawing on moral and legal philosophy to explore the role and capacities of law in several intersecting fields of legal studies, including health law and policy, international human rights law, torts, public health law, and women’s health law and policy, her work has advanced understanding of why law works and why it fails in various legal, social and geopolitical contexts. She is the Convenor of the Future of Human Rights: International Conference on Race and Access to Justice, Co-Convenor of the Vulnerability, Inequality and Justice Workshop (VIJ) Workshop and, starting from 2026, Convenor of the UNESCO Global Congress on Health, Race and Human Rights. 

Dr. Iyioha has served as principal investigator on several projects, including most recently on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Grant for a multi-country study of populism and obedience to law in the context of public health emergencies. Her scholarship and service to the local and global communities have been recognized nationally and internationally through numerous awards and honours, including the 18^th World Congress on Medical Law Award issued by the World Association for Medical Law for her formative work on legal effectiveness and the Canadian Association of Law Teachers (CALT) Award for Scholarly Work that Makes a Substantial Contribution to Legal Literature for her theory of Substantive Legal Effectiveness (SLE). 

She has been honoured with a Top 40 under 40 in Edmonton Award by Avenue Magazine for “writing and teaching law with an unflinching commitment to human rights.” She is also the recipient of the Government of Alberta’s Stars of Alberta Award from the province’s Lieutenant Governor and the Minister of Culture and Tourism for exemplary leadership in service and improving the overall quality of life of Albertans and the community. An acclaimed teacher, she received the University of Victoria Law Students’ Society First Year Class Teaching Award in 2022—for having “made a special contribution to legal education through effective and engaging classroom teaching and a demonstrated commitment to assisting and supporting the academic work of first year students”.

Her career has spanned research and senior policy positions with the governments of Ontario and Alberta, as well as non-profit leadership. The founder of award-winning initiatives that have served kids and youths in need and mentored university students around the world, she is also the Founder of the University of Victoria’s Racial Justice Program (previously the Black Professionals Leadership Program)—an educational support initiative for Black law students. She served as its inaugural director from 2021 to 2023, raising in that time about three quarters of a million dollars in grants for the program. In 2022, her leadership was recognized with the prestigious $690,000 Racial Justice Grant from the Law Foundation of British Columbia to fund the initiatives she designed for the Racial Justice Program, including its Visiting Professors Initiative.

Graduate Supervision

Dr. Iyioha welcomes graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in her areas of expertise, especially researchers interested in incorporating a rich philosophical analysis in their work.

Tort Law

Selected

• Inaugural Holder, UBC Professorship in Race and Access to Justice
• Chair, Scientific Committee, 28^th World Congress on Medical Law (2023-2024) at the World Association for Medical Law
• Faculty Associate, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University (2023-2024; 2024—)
• Visiting Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School Executive Master of Laws Program, York University (2020—)
• Full Professor, adj., Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta (2022—)
• Visiting Scholar, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University (2023)
• Member, World Association for Medical Law (WAML)
• Member, Law Society of British Columbia
• Member, Nigerian Bar Association