Michael Thorburn

Michael is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School. During his time at Osgoode Hall he received several awards recognizing academic distinction and significant contributions to the law school, including the Dean’s Gold Key Award, the Wendy Babcock Social Justice Award, the F.W. Minkler Prize, and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal Prize. Throughout law school Michael was a member of Osgoode Hall Law Journal, being elected Managing Editor in his final year, and a research assistant in the areas of labour and employment law. In addition, Michael completed an internship in Bengaluru, India working on policy issues to address child labour practices.

Throughout his studies Michael volunteered as a community organizer with the Citizen Empowerment Project—a not-for-profit that created campaigns and public education initiatives to encourage youth from underrepresented communities to engage with national and community-based legal and policy issues.

In 2020, Michael was awarded the Schwarzman Scholarship. As a part of the program, Michael will earn a Master of Global Affairs in Management Science from Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Michael’s research project as a Schwarzman Scholar explores the potential role of labour law to reduce carbon emissions and promote the clean energy transition.