Michael MacKenzie
Professor; Canada Research Chair (Tier 1)
Michael MacKenzie is the Canada Research Chair in Child Well-Being and Professor of Social Work, Psychiatry and Pediatrics. He first became interested in developmental pathways involving maltreatment through his extensive work with children in his family鈥檚 residential group homes and in foster care in Ontario.
This work with children whose early childhood experiences had profoundly shaped the course of their lives sparked his passion for improving family-based supports for maltreated children and those growing up in out-of-home care. These experiences also focused his efforts on better understanding the dynamic connections between the biological and social worlds of the developing child, including the roots of harsh parenting, trauma, and the pathways of children into and through the child welfare system.
Mentorship has played an important role across his own efforts to navigate the academy as a first generation student and academic and he is committed to offering strong and inclusive support to faculty development, including efforts he has undertaken with funding and training from the William T. Grant Foundation to build his capacity in effective mentoring across difference.