M.Ed candidate and entrepreneur Rumeet Toor (BA 2006 UTM) has launched the
Toor Centre for Teacher Education, a community college in rural Kenya that aims to improve higher education quality and access for the people of Nzeveni, in Mbooni West. Read about the centre on
cp24.com and
mississauga.com.
Violinist, violist and music educator Barry Shiffman(Mus. Bac. Perf. 1988) is the new associate dean of the Glenn Gould School and dean of the Young Artists Performance Academy at the
Royal Conservatory. Shiffman comes to Toronto from the
Banff Centre where he served as a music programs director. He recently received an
honorary degree from the University of Calgary.
Mark Sedore (MA 2008), a writer in President David Naylor's office, is winner of the 32nd Annual 3-Day Novel contest. His novel,
Snowmen, is about one man's perilous attempt to walk alone across the North Pole, bisecting the Arctic Circle between Canada and Russia. (
3daynovel.com)
Jacqueline Lyanga (BA 1994 Victoria) was promoted to director of the American Film Institute's festival,
AFI FEST, held annually in Los Angeles and now in its 24th year. Lyanga is a grad of the prestigious AFI Conservatory and has worked for the festival since 2005. (
variety.com)
Faye Mishna (MSW 1978) was
named new dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. She is also the faculty's McCain Family Chair in Child and Family, and an expert on the phenomenon of Internet bullying. Read more about Mishna's work, at
give.utoronto.ca.
Dr. Michael Pollanen (Ph.D 1995, MD 1999), professor in the Dept. of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, is travelling to Haiti as part of a Canadian team that will help assess the personnel and resources needed to identify victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake.(
news.utoronto.ca)