2012 Awards of Excellence

More than 175 people gathered at the Great Hall at Hart House April 10 as the U of T Alumni Association (UTAA) hosted the Awards of Excellence. The annual event celebrates faculty, staff and students for their outstanding leadership and scholarship. These are the 2012 Awards of Excellence recipients:

CHANCELLOR’S AWARD is awarded to administrative staff members for exceptional leadership in their role in advancing the university’s mission in two categories, emerging leader and influential leader.

Emerging Leader Category recognizes staff members who demonstrate significant potential to assume more senior leadership in the organization.

Cheryl Champagne, Health and Wellness, Student Life Programs and Services
Cheryl Champagne has demonstrated a high level of commitment to the cause of reducing violence and to heightening awareness of violence on all three campuses …

Heather Drouillard, Division of Teaching Laboratories, Faculty of Medicine
Heather Drouillard was recognized for her influence in many areas outside the purview of her role as a finance and administration professional …

Influential Leader Category recognizes a staff member who has continually demonstrated innovative leadership to achieve outstanding contributions to the university by motivating and empowering others.

Cathy Eberts, Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration
As an IT professional, Cathy Eberts has made a positive contribution to every division with which she has been involved. In particular, her work in the reorganization and recentralization of IT services …

Paul Fraumeni, Office of the Vice-President, Research
Paul Fraumeni made it easier for researchers to tell their stories and illuminated the links between research and its application in the wider world … 

FACULTY AWARD is presented to a member of the University of Toronto teaching staff who consistently demonstrates excellence in both teaching and research endeavours.

Professor Arthur Ripstein, Faculty of Law and Department of Philosophy
Professor Arthur Ripstein has an international reputation as a leader in political and legal philosophy. He is also known for his dedication to his students and the University of Toronto …

CAROLYN TUOHY IMPACT ON PUBLIC POLICY AWARD is presented to a member of the University of Toronto teaching staff whose scholarship has had a significant impact on public policy.

Professor Mark Stabile, School of Public Policy and Governance & Rotman School of Management
Founding director of the School of Public Policy and Governance, Professor Mark Stabile continues to widen his influence on the major issues Canadians are facing today …

NORTHROP FRYE AWARD recognizes distinguished achievements in connecting teaching and research at the University of Toronto in two categories, faculty and departmental or divisional.

Faculty Category recognizes a faculty member who has exceeded the university’s standard of excellence for innovation in teaching and commitment to conveying the excitement and importance of research to undergraduate and graduate students.

Professor Frances Garrett, Department for the Study of Religion
Students describe Professor Frances Garrett as “exceptional” and “an amazing instructor.” She is an expert in Buddhist studies and unites teaching with research for the benefit of students …

Departmental Category recognizes the department or division for the level of commitment and kinds of support demonstrated in encouraging faculty members to develop exemplary linkages between teaching and research.

Division of Engineering Science
The Division of Engineering Science’s mission entails a dynamic and continuous link between research and teaching that reflects exactly the spirit of the Northrop Frye Award …

VIVEK GOEL FACULTY CITIZENSHIP AWARD recognizes a faculty member who has served the University of Toronto with distinction in multiple leadership capacities in diverse spheres over many years.

Professor Michael E. Charles, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
In a career spanning almost 50 years, Professor Michael Charles brought about important changes and built enduring partnerships within the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, between the Faculty and other University of Toronto divisions and between the University and its partners in the public and private sectors …

JOAN E. FOLEY QUALITY OF STUDENT EXPERIENCE AWARD is presented to a student, alumnus/a, faculty or administrative staff member who has made a distinctive and lasting contribution to enhancing the quality of the undergraduate or graduate student experience at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Dena Taylor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education
In 1995, Dena Bain Taylor established the Health Sciences Writing Centre helping thousands of students hone their writing skills, organize their ideas and meet high standards of scholarly presentation … 

LUDWIK AND ESTELLE JUS MEMORIAL HUMAN RIGHTS PRIZE is presented to a faculty, staff or student of the university who has made a positive and lasting contribution to education and action against discrimination, supporting the University’s mission to realize an exemplary degree of equity and diversity and to extend our knowledge as a consequence of our diversity.

Professor Doris Bergen, Department of History
Professor Doris Bergen, a leading scholar of religion, gender and ethnicity in the Holocaust and Second World War, is committed to encouraging thought about history and human rights in the classroom and beyond …

Dr. Joan Simalchik, Study of Women and Gender, University of Toronto Mississauga
Joan Simalchik’s career has been devoted to education and activism against discrimination and in support of survivors of torture and other human rights violations …

ADEL S. SEDRA DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD is given to a graduate student who demonstrates outstanding academic and extracurricular leadership.

Mohamed Soliman, Department of Molecular Genetics
Mohamed Soliman is studying suppressor proteins and their effect on the aging of cells, an area with important ramifications for cancer research …

UTAA GRADUATE SCHOLARS are finalists of the Adel S. Sedra Distinguished Graduate Award.

Tom Ziming Lu, Department of Physiology
As organizer of the first Physiology Day in 2010, Tom Ziming Lu is adept as both a medical research scientist and an advocate for his chosen discipline …

Jeannine Pitas, Centre for Comparative Literature
Having given more than a dozen conference presentations during her first three years as a PhD candidate, Jeannine Pitas is already a leading figure in the Centre for Comparative Literature …

JOHN H. MOSS SCHOLARSHIP is awarded to an undergraduate student in their graduating year who had demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and extra-curricular involvement.

Katherine Bruce-Lockhart, History and African Studies, Victoria College

Katherine deVries Bruce-Lockhart has already applied the insights she has acquired in her studies to the wider world as the author of articles on such timely subjects as food security, refugee rights and disappearing languages …

UTAA SCHOLARS are finalists of the John H. Moss scholarship.

Sima Atri, Peace and Conflict Studies, Victoria College, is an alumna of the Lester B. Pearson stream of the Vic One program and has pursued independent research on children involved in conflict and transitional justice in Uganda …

Alicia Cundall, International Development Studies, University of Toronto Scarborough, looks forward to a career as a family physician in the service of Canadian Aboriginal mothers in remote areas …

Salvator Cusimano, International Relations, Peace and Conflict Studies, Trinity College has achieved academic excellence while pursuing volunteer activities on campus and internationally …

Darryl Hoving, Innis College, is a physics specialist with a major in mathematics and a minor in nanoscience, has been awarded 17 scholarships …