Dimitry Anastakis (right) accepts the prize from Andrew Ross, chair of the Canadian Business History Association (left) and Rick Waugh, former CEO of Scotiabank (centre) (photo by Ken McGuffin)
Dimitry Anastakis recognized with Waugh Family Foundation Book Prize in Canadian Business History
Published: October 15, 2025
Dimitry Anastakis, professor and L.R. Wilson and R.J. Currie Chair in Canadian Business History in the department of history in the University of Toronto's Faculty of Arts & Science and in the Rotman School of Management, has received the inaugural Waugh Family Foundation Book Prize in Canadian Business History inaugural from the Canadian Business History Association (CBHA).
The prize, which carries a $10,000 award, is presented annually to the book judged to provide the best study of Canadian business history.
Anastakis was recognized for his 2024 book Dream Car: Malcolm Bricklin’s Fantastic SV1 and the End of Industrial Modernity, published by University of Toronto Press.
A three-person jury praised the work as “a landmark achievement in Canadian business history,” noting that while it recounts the story of Malcolm Bricklin’s ill-fated Canadian sports car, it also demonstrates how the automobile became a defining site where technology, culture and visions of the future converged.
Anastakis’s scholarship focuses on the intersections of business, politics, globalization and automobility in post-1945 Canada. He has published 12 books and edited collections, including five on the Canadian auto industry, and currently serves as director of Canadian Studies at University College. He is also a senior fellow at Massey College and the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary International History.
