‘Chairman Leo’- Academic and Activist: A Brilliantly Kind Man and an Intellectual Giant for the Common Good

A Man Who Projected Light and Hope on to the World

Leo Panitch (1945-2020), Professor Emeritus at York University in Toronto.

Photo: courtesy of Socialist Register/ Via Canadian Dimension

Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus Leo Panitch

‘We are devastated by the passing of Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus Leo Panitch and send our most heartfelt condolences to his family. Leo was the quintessential public intellectual. Informed by Marxist thought, he was a stalwart of social justice who helped us grasp the causes of oppression while offering a socialist vision of a different kind of world, one where people come before profit. Even in these difficult times, Leo saw “the hopeful side.”* Leo was also our colleague, the person with whom we shared the sixth floor of the South Ross Building at York University. He holds a special place in the hearts and minds of those of us who studied and worked closely with him. And we know that we will honour Leo's memory by continuing the struggle for justice in our backyards, neighbourhoods, cities, countries, and indeed globally. In Leo, we recognize that what we do as scholars matters. It matters when scholarly research is aimed at confronting injustices and pursuing a vision for a better world. It matters when the university and social justice communities collaborate and come together. It matters when the academy harnesses its resources for the many, not the few, for those oppressed, not the privileged...Rest in power, Leo. You will be deeply missed and never forgotten.’