EVENT DATE: March 15, 2017
TOPIC: Of Hockey and Hijab: New Reflections on being Female, Canadian, and Muslim

Sheema Khan was born in Varanasi and moved to Montreal with her parents in 1965.  After undergraduate studies at McGill University, she completed a PhD in Chemical Physics at Harvard and has worked in industry and more recently in the field of Intellectual Property law. She has written about Canada’s innovation strategy for the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business. Since 2002, Sheema was hired by the Globe and Mail to write a monthly column on Islam and Muslims (over 150 and still counting) and provided insight on being a modern and liberal, yet practicing, Muslim, especially in Canada.  A collection of her columns was published in the 2009 book “Of Hockey and Hijab: Reflections of a Canadian Muslim Woman”.  Her aim has been to provide even-handed and forthright commentary, while engaging readers across the country. In 2012, she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to Canada. She is regularly invited to speak on issues pertaining to Islam, Muslims and pluralism, helping to foster bridges of understanding.  Sheema lives in Ottawa, and is married with three children.