The President's Report, 2008–2010

As it enters its ninth decade of service to high scholarship in the Middle Ages, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Canada's oldest research institute in the humanities, remains focussed on research and study in the thought, culture, writings and institutions of medieval society. Its secondary purpose is to disseminate the results of that research through teaching and scholarly publishing. In pursuing this mission the Institute continues to provide training at the highest level in the fundamentals of medieval scholarship in languages, manuscript studies and related disciplines. To give full expression to its academic purpose the Institute offers programmes at the post-doctoral level leading to the License and Doctorate in Mediaeval Studies, provides an internationally recognized specialized research library for scholars, and supports an important publishing division, the only university press in North America devoted exclusively to medieval studies.

Leadership and Governance
This Report covers the academic years 2008–2009 and 2009–2010, a period of transition and renewal for the Pontifical Institute. In July 2008, I succeeded the Rev. James K. McConica, CSB as Praeses of the Institute, an office he had held for twelve years. In January 2010, Mr Jonathan Bengtson followed the Rev. James K. Farge, CSB in the position of Institute Librarian with Father Farge stepping down after twenty-two years to become Curator of Special Collections and the Rare Book Room at the Library. The Rev. Martin Dimnik, CSB and the Rev. T. Allan Smith, CSB continued in their positions as Academic Dean and Registrar respectively. The occasion of this Report provides a welcome opportunity to thank again the priests of the Congregation of St Basil for their dedicated involvement with and many contributions to the Institute since its earliest days. Their leadership and continuing support have been essential to the growth and development of the Institute, its academic mission and the emergence of Toronto as a major centre for study and research in the intellectual and material culture of the Middle Ages.

Other senior staff changes involved, in 2009, Mr Stan Kamski following a distinguished career with the Toronto Dominion Bank becoming Institute Treasurer, and former business execu-tive Mr Brian O'Malley joining the Institute as fundraising counsel.

In late 2009, the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada appointed Mrs Nicole C. Eaton, Chair of the Institute's Board of Governors, to the Senate of Canada. Senator Eaton graciously agreed to continue leading our board in addition to her new duties. Mrs Maruja Jackman, an enthusiastic advocate of the Institute for many years, and Mr Paul Barnicke, of the accounting firm PWC Associates, both joined the board, with Mr Barnicke serving as the representative of the Mediaeval Studies Foundation. We are grateful for the continuing support of our Chancellor, the Most Rev. Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto.

Academic Affairs
Appointment as an Associate Fellow of the Institute was extended to Professor John Magee, Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. This will have the added intended benefit of facilitating collaboration between the Institute and the Centre on matters of common interest including encouraging the strengthening and further development of the undergraduate programme in Medieval Studies at the University of St Michael's College. The future health of the medieval academic enterprise at Toronto and the University of Toronto depends on a mutually supportive relationship between the Institute, the Centre for Medieval Studies, and the University's Faculty of Arts and Science.

Professor Alain Stoclet, Maître de Conférences at the Université Lyon 2 was also appointed Research Fellow.

A serious loss to the Institute's academic fellowship occurred with the untimely death of Professor Virginia Brown in July 2009. A widely attended memorial service in her honour was held in St Basil's Church on 22 October 2009.

The Institute's post-doctoral programme entered its second decade with the admittance of four new Mellon Fellows in each of 2008 and 2009. In 2009, the Praeses was able to announce financial commitments from private donors which, when fully redeemed in 2012 and taken together with a matching grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York, will endow the post-doctoral programme. Along with previously existing endowments provided in honour of two former Praeses of the Institute, the Rev. L.K. Shook, CSB and Monsignor Edward Synan, this provides a secure base going forward for the License programme.

Also, 2009 saw the inauguration of the PIMS Summer School in Latin Palaeography taught by Michèle Mulchahey, Leonard E. Boyle Professor of Manuscript Studies, and Greti Dinkova-Bruun, Associate Fellow of the Institute, which attracted a full complement of sixteen students from universities across North America. The results of a questionnaire showed strong satisfaction with all aspects of the programme, a happy result which carried over to the 2010 Summer School.

Based on this positive start and animated by the desire to help provide young scholars with specific academic skills they will need in active research careers in order to deal appropriately with primary source material, the Institute, supported by grants from the Delmas Foundation of New York and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will offer in the summers of 2011 and 2012 a programme in Manuscript Studies in Rome in conjunction with the American Academy, and in Toronto under the direction of the Boyle Chair, Professor Michèle Mulchahey. It is anticipated that a formal academic credential will be awarded to successful candidates.

During the 2009-2010 academic year, the Institute, with a grant from the J.P. Bickell Foundation of Toronto and in collaboration with the University of Toronto's Centre for Medieval Studies, established a Distinguished Visiting Scholar programme designed to bring senior international scholars to PIMS and Toronto during their academic leave or sabbatical year. The inaugural Distinguished Visiting Scholar (fall term, 2010) was Professor John Marenbon, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

The convocation on 3 October 2009, presided over by our Chancellor, the Most Rev. Thomas Collins, Archbishop of Toronto, celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Institute's founding and the 70th anniversary of PIMS's charter from the Holy See. Twenty-one graduates were granted the License in Mediaeval Studies. Honorary degrees were awarded to Professor Elizabeth A.R. (Peggy) Brown, Mr Mario Cortellucci, Professor Umberto Eco and posthumously to the Rev. Victor B. Brezik, CSB. Professor Brian Stock was invested as an Honorary Fellow of the Institute.

Publications
PIMS published ten new books in 2009–2010 bringing to 325 the number of books currently in print. Five new book series were established, including Islam and Muslim Societies in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods (edited by Ruba Kana'an) and Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relations in the Medieval World (edited by Devorah Schoenfeld and John Marcus Beard). It is hoped these two series will represent initial steps at PIMS in developing a new scholarly focus on the history and interaction of the three great Abrahamic religious traditions in the Middle Ages.

The other new series are: History of Medieval Science (edited by Betsy Price), Text-Image-Context: Studies in Medieval Manuscript Illumination (edited by Jeffrey Hamburger), and Vita evangelica: Medieval and Early Modern Spiritual Texts from Western Europe (edited by Anne Mouron).

It can also be reported that Publications had record book sales in 2009–2010. It is important to recognize that private donations have enabled PIMS to build up a fund that can be drawn upon to support the publication of manuscripts submitted by international scholars. Current government policy does not provide for assistance from granting agencies in aid of publishing works by authors who do not hold Canadian citizenship. Having this particular fund available enables us to solicit manuscripts exclusively on the basis of quality without reference to the nationality of the author. This is essential for a publishing enterprise which aspires to an international presence.

The 2009 issue of Mediaeval Studies has been dedicated to the memory of the late Professor Virginia Brown, Senior Fellow Emerita whose long and distinguished association with the journal has contributed significantly to the high esteem in which scholars continue to hold it. Library
The Institute Library, a world-ranked research resource for scholarly inquiry and study in the thought and culture of the Middle Ages, in 2009 received the gift from an anonymous donor of seven medieval manuscripts dating from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries. Deposited in the library's Rare Book Room, they have joined eleven manuscripts previously obtained by way of donation from the same source. It is important to note that these manuscripts have already been used in components of our palaeography summer programme in conformity with the donor's wishes.

Wide use continues to be made of the Library's consolidated resources by scholars from Canada, the United States and abroad. Visitors from more than 30 Canadian universities and colleges in 8 provinces made up the largest group of Library users and were joined by scholars from universities in 23 states in the US and a growing number from Europe.

In 2009–2010 over 3,000 new books were added to a collection that now contains more than 160,000 items, including 130,000 printed books and 15,000 books on microfiche and microfilm.

Philanthropy
The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies receives no direct government grant in support of its activities. We depend therefore on the generosity of foundations, individuals, and friends to make it possible for the Institute and its work to continue.

In the spring of 2009 the Institute received confirmation of the largest gift by an individual to the Institute in its eighty-year history. Mr Mario Cortellucci of Toronto will provide $1 million in support of the Institute and its various programmes over a four-year period.

In addition to this landmark donation, the Institute has also initiated the President's Council, membership in which will recognize donors of $5,000 to an annual fund at the Institute. The goal is to support the Institute's core operation. We are delighted to report that seventeen individuals joined the President's Council in its first six months.

We also wish to recognize the important and ongoing assistance given to the Institute by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York whose support of our Post-Doctoral Seminar and Research Programme, including a bridging grant, has enabled us to raise matching funds to make this Programme permanent.

In addition, we express our deep gratitude to the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation of New York, the J.P. Bickell Foundation of Toronto, the Janet E. Hutchison Foundation of Toronto and the Archdiocese of Toronto for their signal support of various aspects of our work.

The full text of The President' Report, 2008–2010, including detailed activity reports and reports from other departments in the Institute, is also available.