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Wes Shera

Degrees: 
Professor & Dean Emeritus; B.A., M.A., PhD.
Biography: 

wes.shera@utoronto.ca

Dr. Shera CV

Wes Shera is Professor and Dean Emeritus at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. He has also been cross-appointed as a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He previously held academic positions at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and the University of Hawaii in the U.S.  From 1995 to 2002 he served as Dean of the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto and was able to achieve significant increases in research activity and financial support for the Faculty.

Dr. Shera earned his master’s degree in social welfare from the University of Calgary in 1975 and his doctorate in interdisciplinary social planning from Pennsylvania State University in 1982. His areas of teaching include community organization, social policy, groupwork, management and social work practice in the field of mental health. Dr. Shera’s research focuses on operationalizing and testing concepts of empowerment in working with clients, organizations, and communities.