In Memoriam: Dr. Régine Uwibereyeho King 

The Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work joins social workers and others throughout Canada and beyond in mourning the loss of Dr. Régine Uwibereyeho King, whose deep commitment to healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness has left an indelible mark on the field and improved the lives of many. 

Dr. King  received a Master of Education in Counselling Psychology and Community Development from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in 2003 and a PhD from FIFSW in 2011. She completed her postdoctoral studies at CAMH and was an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba prior to joining the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Social Work, where she became a Professor. 

Izumi Sakamoto and Régine Uwibereyeho King

News of her death was shared at the opening of the Canadian Association of Social Work Educators (CASWE) conference on June 4. Conference attendees, including Associate Professor Izumi Sakamoto, who was her dissertation advisor at FIFSW, co-organized a gathering to remember their colleague after the final session that same day. 

“I am deeply saddened by this loss,” says Sakamoto. “Régine was one of the most fierce, dedicated and generous activist scholars who committed her life in healing the individuals and communities deeply wounded by the genocide. She had an infectious laughter and brought people together to build communities wherever she went.” 

Dr. King was a survivor of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, an experience that profoundly influenced the work that she would later pursue as a researcher, educator and community leader.  

“During the 100 days of genocide, I had made many promises to God that if he spared my life, I would dedicate myself to helping those who were suffering in even worse conditions than those I was experiencing,” she wrote in an article for Open Canada on the 25th anniversary of the genocide. “Additionally, I had made a vow to tell the story of my people to the whole world.”  

The University of Calgary also wrote about her experiences and commitment to help others on the 30th anniversary of the genocide in 2024. 

“I don’t tell my story to make you sad — I tell you so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else,” she told writer Jacquie Moore. “I tell you my story, so that you can become the ambassadors of peace.” 

An internationally respected transdiciplinary and transnational researcher and educator, Dr. King’s community-based studies focused on racial justice, cross-cultural mental health, social processes of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation, critical pedagogies, and African Indigenous knowledges. (One CASWE attendee called her a “leading scholar in forgiveness.”) 

As shared in her biography on the University of Calgary’s website, Dr. King’s publications have attracted readers from across the globe in the areas of truth and reconciliation, intergroup dialogue, healing approaches to collective trauma, anti-Black racism, refugee mental health, transnational social work, and critical pedagogies.  

Dr. King was also instrumental in addressing anti-Black racism in social work curriculum at the University of Calgary and through her work with the Council of Canadian Social Work Education. Her many awards include an Alberta Immigrant Impact Award, which she received from the Government of Alberta in 2024. 

“This is a huge loss to social work and the world,” says Dean Charmaine Williams. “Her research was a work of love and hope for the people of her homeland in Rwanda. It was an honour to be a witness to her scholarship and her accomplishments.”