U of T Dentistry Dean Steps Down After Probe Into Antisemitic Course Images

The University of Toronto's dean of dentistry has stepped down immediately after an internal investigation into antisemitic imagery used in lecture materials earlier this year, the university said. Provost Trevor Young announced in a Thursday statement that Dr. Anil Kishen voluntarily resigned as dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, CBC News and The Canadian Press reported Friday.

The investigation found that Kishen did not intend to promote antisemitism and had limited knowledge of the images' history and associated tropes, Young said. Community members were divided over his actions and apology. "Some community members accepted Dr. Kishen's immediate apology, while others were deeply hurt by the use of the images," Young said, according to CityNews, which carried the same Canadian Press account.

"[Kishen] knows his usage of them has been very painful to many members of the community," Young said. "He recognizes that many community members have lost confidence in his ability to continue to lead the faculty of dentistry."

What was in the lecture slides

Jewish advocacy organization B'nai Brith Canada shared images on social media earlier this year of what it said were antisemitic lecture materials Kishen showed in class. One illustration depicted a figure wrapped in an Israeli flag and rope while holding its head, painted in the colours of the Palestinian flag, next to a mention of "strangulation theory" associated with dental pulp, CBC reported. Another showed a man with a hooked nose swimming in a well of money alongside the word "immunity."

Jewish News Syndicate, citing Young's letter to the faculty community as shared by HonestReporting Canada, described one cartoon as a figure with an exaggerated beak-like nose sitting in a bathtub filled with money during a lecture on the human immune system, and another as a figure painted in Palestinian flag colours being strangled with a rope while wrapped in an Israeli flag, used to illustrate how inflammation restricts blood flow in dental tissue.

February leave and apology

The materials were presented to students on Feb. 25, 2026, The Canadian Jewish News reported at the time. Kishen then went on administrative leave pending the investigation. In a letter to dentistry students and faculty, he acknowledged including "two cartoon images" that "contained discriminatory imagery," said he selected them as "visual analogies for two concepts," and added he was "not trying to make any political statements."

"I say this not as an excuse for this mistake. I recognize that this has caused a great deal of harm, and I am deeply sorry," Kishen wrote, per The CJN. He condemned antisemitism and discrimination "in all their forms" and pledged to improve his understanding of how such bias can appear in a learning environment.

Young told The CJN in February that Kishen had removed the images from his course materials and apologized directly to his class and the broader faculty. Pekka Sinervo, a physics professor and co-spokesperson for the Association of Jewish Faculty and Staff at the University of Toronto, said colleagues and students brought the slides to senior administrators, who responded by speaking with the dean. Sinervo said the slides had also been used in a lecture the previous year, and that students can be reluctant to complain about instructors because of the power imbalance.

Lisa Salamon, president of the Jewish Medical Association of Ontario, told The CJN that Jewish dentistry students sought her support after noticing one of the images, and that she reviewed materials from 2025 and 2026 and believed at least one image had appeared before. Hillel Ontario called the images "egregious and unacceptable," and B'nai Brith Canada said there was "no excuse" for the conduct and demanded accountability from university leadership.

What happens next

Young said Kishen has undergone training about antisemitism and is committed to continuing his "cultural education," CBC reported. Kishen will remain at the university as a tenured faculty member and is expected to return to his full duties in the 2027-28 academic year. Acting dean Laura Tam will continue in her interim role while the university searches for a new head of the faculty.

A Nov. 5 memo from Young to the Faculty of Dentistry community, titled "Leadership Transition at the Faculty of Dentistry (PDAD&C #11)" and listed on the provost's academic-administrator communications page, confirmed the leadership change. The resignation closes an eight-month leadership vacuum that began when Kishen went on leave in February, and leaves Tam steering the faculty until a permanent successor is named.