Allan Levine

BA, MA, PhD

Honorary Doctor of Laws

Allan Levine is a passionate, award-winning storyteller who’s spent his career bringing history to life and commenting on current events. If you’ve picked up one of his books, you know they’re hard to put down.

Well-known for his work as a historian, writer, and public intellectual, Levine was also an educator for nearly 30 years. He taught history and world issues at St. John’s-Ravenscourt School from 1984 – 2012 and was an instructor with the Asper Foundation Holocaust Education Program from 1999 – 2012.

In 1987, Levine became a published author — releasing his first book, The Exchange: 100 Years of Trading Grain in Winnipeg. He has written more than a dozen published books, both fiction and non-fiction, and has delved into the historical mystery genre.

However, he’s arguably best known for his work covering Jewish history in Canada. In particular, his 2009 book Coming of Age: A History of Jewish People in Manitoba won numerous accolades, including McNally-Robinson Book of the Year, Best History Book Award at the 2010 Canadian Jewish Book Awards, and co-winner of the J.I. Segal Prize in Canadian Jewish History.

A comprehensive and accessible history of the Jews of Manitoba, Coming of Age reflects what is already known about the community, introduces new material, and casts an eye at the 130-year history of Jews in Manitoba from the earliest days of settlement in 1880 to the present.

Augmenting Levine’s work as an author are more than 500 of his comment pieces and reviews, which have appeared in publications such as the Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, and the National Post. He has been a columnist with the Winnipeg Free Press since 2010, explaining the history behind current events.

For bringing history to life and sharing his scholarly knowledge with the general public through his prolific writing in newspapers and magazines, The University of Winnipeg is proud to honour Allan Levine with an Honorary Doctor of Laws.