Meet Vice-Provost Indigenous, Dr. Beverly Jacobs

The Indigenous Education Council is thrilled to introduce Dr. Beverly Jacobs as the inaugural Vice-Provost Indigenous (VPI) at McMaster University.

From day one of her journey here at McMaster, Beverly has been very busy building relationships and accepting event invitations on campus and beyond. We are currently in the process of building the VPI website. For any communications inquiries, please contact Laura Couchie, Communications Officer, Office of the Vice-Provost Indigenous and Indigenous Education Council.

Short Bio:

Beverly Jacobs (Mohawk Nation, Bear Clan of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy) is a nationally recognized scholar, advocate and leader appointed as McMaster University’s inaugural Vice-Provost, Indigenous, with a joint appointment in the Indigenous Studies Department, Faculty of Social Sciences. She previously served as an associate professor and senior advisor on Indigenous relations at the University of Windsor and led a 22-year law practice in her home community of Six Nations. Jacobs is a former president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada and a Member of the Order of Canada, known for her impact advancing Indigenous legal orders, research, education and advocacy.

Long Bio:

Beverly Jacobs, CM, LLB, LLM, PhD
Mohawk Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Bear Clan
Vice Provost Indigenous, Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, McMaster University

Dr. Beverly Jacobs is Vice Provost Indigenous and Associate Professor, Indigenous Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, McMaster University. Beverly has obtained a Bachelor of Law Degree from the University of Windsor in 1994, a Master of Law Degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 2000 and a PhD from the University of Calgary in 2018. Beverly is also a consultant/researcher/writer/public speaker. Her work centres around ending gendered colonial violence against Indigenous people and restoring Indigenous laws, beliefs, values, and traditions. A prolific scholar, her published work has earned her numerous awards; her research combined with her advocacy has translated into national and international recognition.

Dr. Jacobs is former Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law and former Senior Advisor to the President on Indigenous Relations and Outreach at the University of Windsor. She is former President of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (elected 2004 to 2009). She is nationally known for her work and commitment to Indigenous politics in Canada, is universally respected in this regard, and is understood to be a tireless and formidable advocate. She is a leading voice and an expert with respect to a multitude of issues facing Indigenous peoples in her community, in Ontario, across Canada and on an international scale.

Dr. Jacobs recently received the King Charles III Coronation Medal honoured by Senator Yvonne Boyer in February 2025. She received a Laura Legge Award from the Law Society of Ontario in 2021 and she was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2018. She received two awards from Mohawk College in 2018: Alumni of Distinction Award and Distinguished Fellow – Adjunct Professor. In her first year of teaching at the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor in 2017, she received an Office of Human Rights, Equity & Accessibility, Human Rights and Social Justice Award. In 2016, she received a Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law from the Governments of France and Germany for her human rights fight for the issues relating to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. In 2008, she also received a Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person’s Case, an Esquao Award from the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women and a Canadian Voice of Women of Peace Award from the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative and Civilian Peace Service Canada.