Citizen Lab founder and director, Ron Deibert, has been honoured as a Distinguished Scholar by the International Studies Association (ISA). Delivered every two years, the award honours “exceptional scholarship accomplishments and contributions to the development of the study of International Relations in Canada.”

Originally slated for 2020 and postponed because of COVID-19, the award was delivered at the ISA 2021 virtual convention as part of a panel discussion, featuring the Munk School’s Janice Stein

“It’s truly humbling to receive this kind of acknowledgement from my peers,” Deibert said. “Although my work at the Citizen Lab is unconventional, and I’ve drifted away from IR theory, I have really cherished the International Relations academic community and have long been inspired by many peers and colleagues’ work in the field.”

In recognition of his own work or that of the Citizen Lab, he has been awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award (2015), the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity (2014), the Advancement of Intellectual Freedom in Canada Award from the Canadian Library Association (2014), and the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Vox Libera Award (2010). In 2019, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Guelph.

In 2013, he was appointed to the Order of Ontario and awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal, for being “among the first to recognize and take measures to mitigate growing threats to communications rights, openness and security worldwide.”