Awards of Excellence 2012 Recipients

The Awards of Excellence celebrate members of the University of Toronto community who, through their individual efforts and accomplishments, have contributed to the University’s vision of becoming a leader among the world’s best public teaching and research universities. Those honoured through the program have stepped up to the challenge of making rich and meaningful contributions to the University, the community, and to the world.

 

Faculty Award
Professor Arthur Ripstein, Faculty of Law and Department of Philosophy

Northrop Frye Award (Individual)
Professor Frances Garrett, Department for the Study of Religion

Northrop Frye Award (Divisional/Departmental)
Division of Engineering Science

Carolyn Tuohy Impact on Public Policy Award
Professor Mark Stabile, School of Public Policy and Governance & Rotman School of Management

Vivek Goel Faculty Citizenship Award
Professor Michael E. Charles, Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry

Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize
Professor Doris Bergen, Department of History
Dr. Joan Simalchik, Study of Women and Gender, University of Toronto Mississauga

Joan E. Foley Quality of Student Experience Award
Dr. Dena Taylor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education

Chancellor’s Award – Emerging Leader
Cheryl Champagne, Health and Wellness
Heather Drouillard, Division of Teaching Laboratories (DTL), Medicine

Chancellor’s Award – Influential Leader
Cathy Eberts, Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration
Paul Fraumeni, Office of the Vice-President, Research

Adel S. Sedra Distinguished Graduate Award 
Mohamed Soliman, Department of Molecular Genetics

UTAA Graduate Scholars
Tom Ziming Lu, Department of Physiology
Jeannine Pitas, Centre for Comparative Literature

John H. Moss Scholarship 
Katherine Bruce-Lockhart, History and African Studies, Victoria College

UTAA Scholars
Sima Atri, Peace and Conflict Studies, Victoria College
Alicia Cundall, International Development Studies, University of Toronto in Scarborough
Salvator Cusimano, International Relations/Peace and Conflict Studies, Trinity College
Darryl Hoving, Physics, Mathematics and Nanoscience, Innis College

 

2012 Award Winners

Faculty Award

Professor Arthur Ripstein

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

As one of Canada’s most important thinkers, Professor Ripstein is jointly appointed to the Department of Philosophy and the Faculty of Law. He has transformed our ideas about the relationship between justice and responsibility with a groundbreaking body of interdisciplinary scholarship spanning a wide range of topics, including the history of philosophy, the theory of justice and tort law, and the nature of liberalism and nationalism.

Professor Ripstein is the first person to win the Canadian Philosophical Association Book Prize twice, with Equality, Responsibility, and the Law (2001) and Force and Freedom: Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy (2011). The latter book established him as the leading interpreter and defender in English of Kant’s legal and political philosophy.

His students are devoted to him and he is devoted to them. One graduate says of Professor Ripstein that he “has the ability to see in students’ muddled and tentative thoughts the insights hidden to them, and then to suggest the right next idea or path of inquiry.”

Professor Ripstein has not limited his teaching to the classroom. As a widely recognized public intellectual, he devotes significant time and energy to bringing philosophy to the general public. He has contributed regularly to the CBC Radio program Ideas since 1996.

Chair of the Philosophy Department, Professor Ripstein has served on decanal searches and other committees across the University. He served on Governing Council from 2003-2011, including its Business Board and Executive Committee. He was on the Towards 2030 Task Force on University Governance, contributing in particular his expert knowledge of good governance and the fiduciary duties of governors. As Jack Petch, a former chair of the Governing Council, says: “Governance at the University of Toronto is stronger for his presence and dedicated participation.”

 

Northrop Frye Award (Individual)

Professor Frances Garrett

Students describe Professor Frances Garrett as “exceptional” and “an amazing instructor.” Her area of expertise is Buddhist studies with particular emphasis on Tibetan Buddhism. She teaches a wide variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, uniting teaching with research for the benefit of students while taking advantage of Toronto’s rich diversity. Professor Garrett’s undergraduate students have visited Buddhist locations in Toronto and written descriptive analyses of the sites and their religious communities. They have visited archives and neighbourhoods to document and map religious diversity. Students in a recent third-year course learned ethnographic skills while creating an online archive of oral histories of members of the Buddhist community.

Professor Garrett actively supports student research projects. One student describes her as “instrumental in opening up opportunities for research that I would not have imagined possible for undergraduates.” The Journal of the American Academy of Religion has accepted an article written collaboratively by Professor Garrett and four of her students.

As Associate Chair of the Department for the Study of Religion, Professor Garrett has been engaged in efforts to integrate teaching and research in undergraduate programs. Graduate students now have more opportunities to design and teach courses in their own research areas. She has won several grants and research contracts to develop successful teaching strategies in the department, launched workshops on grant applications and syllabus writing, and co-convenes a monthly luncheon for students and faculty members to encourage new approaches to teaching.

Professor Garrett also served recently as acting director of the Department’s Religion in the Public Sphere initiative, which incl­­uded a public forum and community workshop on food and religious diversity as well as a service-learning course for senior undergraduates.

 

Northrop Frye Award (Departmental)

Division of Engineering Science, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Engineering Science at the University of Toronto was established in 1934 to bridge the gap between theoretical and applied sciences. This mission has entailed a dynamic and continuous link between research and teaching that reflects exactly the spirit of the Northrop Frye Award. A rigorous curriculum and innovative programs provide undergraduates not only with a thorough grounding in fundamentals but unique research opportunities.

The distinctive curriculum of the Division of Engineering Science divides the tenure of an undergraduate between two years of foundational instruction followed by two years of training in one of eight major options. The latter include some of the most exciting fields in contemporary science, such as biomedical engineering, nanoengineering, energy systems and mathematics, statistics and finance. Faculty from multiple departments develop the curricula. Engineering Science students thus acquire a powerful sense of the interdisciplinary character of research in the 21^st century and acquire essential training the culture of collaboration.

Hand in hand with the major option is the mandatory fourth-year thesis, which unites the rigours of training with the excitement of research in a tangible way.

This program borrows the productive elements of the graduate research environment – including a collaborative group atmosphere and access to laboratory facilities – to bestow on promising undergraduates the special confidence that comes with the pursuit of independent research. This program not only encourages original thinking but introduces young scientists to the principles of publishing, public speaking, intellectual property and the economics of commercialization. Often a fourth-year Engineering Science thesis will make a specific contribution to an emerging field. There could be no more productive union of teaching and research.

Even first and second-year Engineering Science students are encouraged to integrate research into their thinking through the Engineering Science Research Opportunities Program (ESROP), which supports salaries for younger students to work as summer research assistants. International research opportunities for students also exist in the summer through a collaborative program with the National University of Singapore. The Undergraduate Research Day for all Engineering undergraduates also has its roots in an Engineering Science initiative.

 

Carolyn Tuohy Impact on Public Policy Award

Mark Stabile

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. He is an extraordinary scholar whose work on health care financing, child well-being and poverty reduction is cited in international journals. His research linking socio-economic status and child health is known to economists and policy analysts worldwide.

Professor Stabile became the founding director of the SPPG in 2007. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Toronto and received his MA and PhD from Columbia University, where his thesis concerned tax policy and employer-provided health insurance.

He designed the model for the multidisciplinary and multi-divisional Master of Public Policy at U of T. Now in its third year, this program assembles stellar researchers from Arts & Science, Engineering, Law, Medicine, OISE and Rotman, as well as scholars from outside the university, to collaborate on policy issues. One of Professor Stabile’s priorities is to put U of T research into practice through effective outreach to governments and the policy community.

Professor Stabile took a secondment from his duties between 2003 and 2005 to work as a senior economic adviser to then-Ontario Minister of Finance Greg Sorbara. His advice was instrumental in instituting health-care reforms that led to a reduction in wait times, increased funding for services and training, and a renewed focus on preventive care.

Professor Stabile’s advice and guidance to students and graduates have had an enormous impact on their career choices. The School of Public Policy now educates 45 Master of Public Policy students per year. That number is expected to rise to more than 80 in 2013. Under Professor Stabile’s leadership, the School has emerged as an important hub for public policy discourse through high-profile symposia, conferences and public-policy debates.

Professor Stabile has been a keynote speaker for the Government of Canada Privy Council Office, the Office of the Premier of Ontario, as well as several federal and provincial departments, medical associations, anti-poverty groups and groups in the private sector. His views on Canadian public policy have been published in Canadian newspapers and broadcast on major television networks. 

 

Vivek Goel Faculty Citizenship Award

Professor Michael E. Charles

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. His work and leadership have benefited the Faculty and its teaching staff, alumni and students and the University as a whole, as well as the engineering profession.

Professor Charles joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry in 1964. He was Chair of the Department from 1975 to 1985, Vice-dean of the Faculty from 1986 to 1993 and Dean from 1993 to 2001.

As Chair he helped to move the department into the new fields of biomedical engineering and occupational and environmental health, in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine. As Vice-dean he focused on the links between research and training and the facilitation of partnerships within the University, as well as partnerships with other universities and government and industrial stakeholders. His groundbreaking  work resulted in Faculty participation in five of the original seven Ontario Centres of Excellence established 1987.  Professor Charles also promoted the expansion of the Faculty’s Professional Experience Year, a popular and formative component of the undergraduate student experience.

As Dean, Professor Charles led the Faculty’s largest fundraising campaign to date, raising more than $105 million between 1995 and 2001 for scholarships, endowed chairs and capital projects, including the Bahen Centre for Information Technology. He also launched a number of initiatives to enhance the student experience and created a Dean’s Advisory Board to promote alumni involvement, increase engagement with the profession and support fundraising goals.

The Faculty has named its council chamber for him and established the Michael Charles Chair in Chemical Engineering. Professor Charles served as President of the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2010-2011 and is currently a fellow of the CAE, the Engineering Institute of Canada and the Chemical Institute of Canada as well as a Senior Fellow of Massey College. He received the Ontario Professional Engineers Gold Medal in 2011.

 

Joan E. Foley Quality of Student Experience Award

Dr. Dena Bain Taylor

Since establishing the Health Sciences Writing Centre (HSWC) in 1995, Dena Bain Taylor has helped thousands of students hone their writing skills, organize their ideas and meet high standards of scholarly presentation.  While she is best known for her dedication and patience in one-on-one encounters, Dr. Taylor has also played a vital role in helping faculty organize classes and design assignments. Her understanding of software, online learning and contemporary networking systems adds further to her already remarkable service to the University of Toronto.

Having earned a PhD in English from U of T in 1983, Dr. Taylor started her career as both a writing instructor and an assistant professor in English, notably at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Her work with the Faculty of Nursing led to the opening of the HSWC, which is connected to five faculties: Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Kinesiology and Physical Education, and Social Work. This broad spectrum of service requires fluency in subjects as apparently unrelated as anatomy and social trends in Africa. In many cases, Dr. Taylor works with students who speak English as a second or third language.

Private testimonials and student surveys leave no doubt as to the transformational effect she has had on health studies. A 2010-2011 survey of 285 students at the Faculty of Physical Education & Health resulted in a 99 percent approval rating for Dr. Taylor. Students frequently speak of her empathy and tolerance: “Dr. Taylor’s help and teaching have had a profound impact on my academic work and success,” writes a Korean-born PhD candidate from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

In 2011 Dr. Taylor worked as a faculty advisor to a health and social justice learning program in Namibia, helping U of T students placed with HIV/AIDS service organizations meet their reporting requirements and acting as a mentor on a range of issues. She also took this opportunity to conduct an academic writing workshop at the University of Namibia. 

Dr. Taylor is active as a creative writer, particularly of science fiction and speculative fiction. She is preparing a writing textbook for nurses for Sage Publications UK, which promises to disseminate her techniques further.

 

Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize

Professor Doris Bergen

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

Recognized internationally as one of her generation’s leading scholars of the Holocaust, Professor Bergen is the author or editor of four books, with a fifth to appear this year.  She has authored more than 40 articles and book chapters that have expanded our understanding of the Holocaust and synthesized previous scholarship for specialists, students and the public.

She is a member of the Academic Advisory Committee of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the most important site of Holocaust research in North America and, after Israel’s Yad Vashem, in the world. As chair of the museum’s fellowships committee, she has furthered the research careers of scholars all over the world, promoted international diversity and played a key role in expanding the scope of research by bringing scholars working on the Darfur, Rwandan and the Armenian genocides to Washington.

Professor Bergen has instructed more than 3,000 undergraduates in her career to date. Her students have gone on to a diverse array of causes and organizations such as the Peace Corps, Teach for America and the United Nations as well as women’s shelters and rape crisis centres. Last year alone, former teaching assistants in her classes offered related courses at eight different universities and colleges throughout the U.S. Many other students have learned from her books, including War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust, widely used in universities in North America and the U.K.

Professor Bergen is always highly visible during Toronto’s Holocaust Education week. She has also helped the Toronto District School Board review committee assess a new grade 11 course on the historical and contemporary implications of genocide. She has served on the advisory committee of the Holocaust and Human Rights Centre of Maine and on the steering committee of U of T’s Centre for Jewish Studies and continues to be the centre’s graduate coordinator.

 

Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize

Dr. Joan Simalchik

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. Her influence has crossed cultures, nurtured key institutions and touched thousands of people.

Dr. Simalchik began teaching courses dealing with immigrant and refugee women at the University of Toronto St. George campus in 2000. She has gone on to teach courses on women and social change, women and world cultures and transnational perspectives on gender and cultural differences. 

Her work as a teacher and coordinator of the Women and Gender Studies program at U of T Mississauga is informed by her extensive experience as an advocate for those who have suffered human rights abuses. She was the founding executive director of the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture (CCVT), an organization that helps survivors overcome the effects of torture and war. Based on this experience, she recognized the need for a Canadian organization devoted to working to help survivors recover and seek justice. In 2000 she became a founding board member of the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ).

Dr. Simalchik is credited for her commitment to involving survivors in the work of organizations dedicated to their aid. As a result, CCIJ includes people with personal experience of human rights violations as advisers, trainers, speakers, organizers and donors.

Dr. Simalchik graduated from Temple University in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in history and earned her master’s and doctoral degrees at U of T, where her work focused on the relationship between Canadian churches and Chilean refugees and the democratization of Chile. She is the editor of the Canadian edition of Women’s Realities/Women’s Choices (Oxford University Press, in progress), a textbook for introductory courses in women and gender studies, and has delivered and published many papers dealing with human rights. In 2007 she received the CCVT Amina Malko Award for Service to Refugee Women.
 

 

Chancellor’s Award – Emerging Leader

Cheryl Champagne

In her nine years as the Assault Counsellor-Educator with the Health & Wellness unit at the University of Toronto, 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. She has combined her personal empathy and professional experience to make a significant difference both to her personal clients and to institutional progress in the prevention of violence.

In her capacity as a counselor, Ms. Champagne has helped hundreds of students address the violence they have experienced in their lives and develop the coping and survival skills they need to move forward and excel at their studies. She has also worked collaboratively to empower students to address concerns with violent images or discriminatory content that they have encountered on campus related to violence against women.  Ms. Champagne’s presentations to student leaders on responding to students who have experienced violence are an integral part of orientation and residence life training.

Ms. Champagne arrived at U of T with an extensive background as a counsellor and community advocate in London (Ontario), Scarborough and Toronto. Immediately before joining the Health & Wellness team she worked as a Gender Training Advisor in Bangladesh with Polli Sree, a non-governmental organization dedicated to alleviating poverty through rural development programs.  She also volunteered in Zimbabwe in 1997, where she provided support to local women starting a women’s shelter.

In 2008 Ms. Champagne was seconded to the Status of Women Office, where she was engaged in broader gender-equity initiatives, building on many strong partnerships across the university. Ms. Champagne has been involved with several University-wide initiatives, including the Ask First campaign, the Dec. 6Memorial, the Walk In Her Shoes exhibition at Robarts Library, as well as workshops bearing such titles as Speak Your Mind Assertiveness for Women, Building Healthy Relationships and Young Women Under Pressure.

Often her advocacy takes a creative form. She inaugurated the Mindfulness Mediation for Students series and collaborated in bringing Dissolve, a play about drug-assisted sexual assault to students at Orientation. Another arts-oriented initiative is What Support Looks Like, a three-session workshop developed in collaboration with the Poet in the Community organization.

Most recently Ms. Champagne has launched Green Dot, a bystander intervention strategy, to educate individual members of the university community on how to reduce power-based personal violence and intervene when someone is in danger. This program, which has been welcomed enthusiastically on all three campuses, promises to advance the cause of reducing violence while instructing students in the fundamentals of good citizenship.   

Chancellor’s Award – Emerging Leader

Heather Drouillard

In her 12 years with the University of Toronto, including eight with the Faculty of Medicine, Heather Drouillard has exerted influence in many areas outside the purview of a finance and administration professional. Engaged as the Business Manager of DTL in 2006, Ms. Drouillard has expanded her duties far beyond the sound management of budgets and accounts. On a personal level, she was recognized with the University of Toronto’s Stepping Up Award in 2008. Her work with DTL has resulted in many remarkable successes for the team. In 2010 DTL received the prestigious Northrop Frye Departmental/Divisional Award for distinguished achievements in linking teaching with research.

One notable initiative for which Ms. Drouillard deserves much credit is the Faculty of Medicine Youth Summer Program (MED YSP), which provides high school students with a glimpse into the world of medicine, medical research and the health science professions. Ms. Drouillard negotiates and administers nearly 25 scholarships for inner-city students coming from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.  She also plays a pivotal role in generating revenues and administering the finances for the “hands-on” lab courses through which DTL fulfills its mandate of enhancing the educational experiences of undergraduate Life Sciences students.

Another important initiative under her watch was the creation of the Equipment Repair Centre (ERC), a joint partnership with Med Store that provides quality repair of lab equipment not only to the Faculty of Medicine researchers but to affiliated research institutes and interdivisional units. Researchers at these institutions are grateful for a service that provides quick, reliable repair, often of equipment that is no longer under warranty. Ms. Drouillard provides direct supervision of ERC staff and works with MedStore in developing marketing strategies and setting goals for the ERC.

Ms. Drouillard complements her administrative prowess with a caring and warm personality. She is happiest in situations where she can closely interact with and help others. Her dedication to her work has not kept her from pursuing her own personal advancement, including the completion of her Certified General Accountants designation. More recently she has pursued a program in Adult Training and Development at OISE. Ms. Drouillard finds time to serve as co-chair of the Faculty of Medicine’s Group on Business Affairs and is also a member of the Green Committee.

 

Chancellor’s Award – Influential Leader

Cathy Eberts

Cathy Eberts has served the University of Toronto for 18 years as an IT professional and has made a positive contribution to every division with which she has been involved. She has accomplished particularly significant work in her current position as Director of Solutions Development for the University-wide reorganization and recentralization of IT services started in 2009.

As the leader of a multifaceted portfolio, Ms. Eberts has applied her vision and expertise to a wide range of challenges, including payroll, student information systems and SAP financial management software. She is currently taking on the substantial project of replacing the student information system with a hybrid of software packages, including solutions developed at U of T.

Another example of her excellent work under the aegis of Enterprise Applications and Solutions Integration (EASI) was the development of Human Resources self-service application for more than 6,000 U of T employees. As Manager of Research Grants, Fundraising and Alumni Information Systems in the 1990s, Ms. Eberts was responsible for implementing custom systems worth millions of dollars. These systems form the groundwork for the now-universal electronic research grant applications, as well as the vast information databases through which advancement staff maintain contact and donations information for more than half a million alumni and friends. Much of the IT infrastructure taken for granted by U of T students, faculty and staff exists in its present form owing to the vision and dedication of Ms. Eberts.

Despite her confidence with complex technology, Ms. Eberts has cultivated a collaborative style that inspires both comfort and confidence in the people with whom she works. She has participated in the Mentoring Leadership Program and successfully helped eight individuals achieve their personal goals. Her personal qualities have made her an ideal member of the University’s collective bargaining team who earns respect on both sides of the table.

It is a token of her determination that she has added to her qualifications by earning a M.Ed. degree from OISE in 2010 with a specialization in college and university administration. 

 

Chancellor’s Award – Influential Leader

Paul Fraumeni

Revolutionary is not too strong a word to describe the effect Paul Fraumeni has had on research communications at the University of Toronto. By refining the tools through which researchers tell their stories and illuminating the links between research and its application in the wider world, Mr. Fraumeni has helped to secure the place of U of T as the top institution of higher learning in Canada.

Mr. Fraumeni arrived at the University in 1998 with extensive professional experience in marketing, communications and fundraising, which he applied to the research sector with both determination and sensitivity. As Director of one of the first Research Communications units in Canada, Mr. Fraumeni produced promotional materials that were both accessible and in keeping with the high standards of clarity and relevance expected from a great university. His ability to identify projects of special interest to stakeholders and communicate complex ideas to the lay public have advanced the U of T mission on many levels.

Among Mr. Fraumeni’s most remarkable innovations is the research magazine Edge, which he founded in 2000 with Susan Bloch-Nevitte and Hal Koblin. By shifting the focus of external communications away from individual profiles to the application of research, Edge has contributed significantly to public awareness of the role of the University. Over the past five years, Mr. Fraumeni has spearheaded a more strategic focus for Edge, devoting each issue to a major societal concern, such as stem cells, new media or healthy aging.  This approach has distinguished the magazine from many other research-focused publications. Edge is a magazine people are likely to keep rather than simply browse.

Mr. Fraumeni also directed the development of a dynamic website highlighting U of T research and has created award-winning annual reports for the Office of the Vice-President, Research. His comprehensive knowledge of research at U of T has led to his participation on many groups and committees, including the communications working group of Boundless: The Campaign for the University of Toronto.  He has also worked with external initiatives, such as the Canada Research Chairs conference in 2010. Mr. Fraumeni’s stress on teamwork has made him a valued and popular member of the U of T community as well as a respected professional in the area of strategic communications.

 

Adel S. Sedra Distinguished Graduate Award Recipient

Mohamed Soliman

A co-author of papers published in Nature Cell Biology and other journals, Mohamed Soliman is studying suppressor proteins and their effect on the aging of cells, an area with important ramifications for cancer research. He has pursued this advanced work not only at the University of Toronto with Tony Pawson but at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with David Sabatini. Mr. Soliman is the co-author of a paper on the regulation of SHC proteins currently under revision at the prestigious journal Science.

Mr. Soliman earned his B. Pharm. from Cairo University in 2004. He was valedictorian of his class, achieving the maximum grade point average of 4.0. He received his M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Calgary. His M.Sc. thesis received a nomination for the Governor General’s Academic Medal.

Mr. Soliman entered a PhD program in Molecular Genetics on the strength of a Connaught Scholarship, the highest entrance award offered by U of  T. Notable among his many awards is a Vanier Scholarship in 2010. In Toronto Mr. Soliman has added expertise in mass spectrometry to his skill as a biochemist. His supervisors in both Calgary and Toronto praise not only his talent as a scientist but his excellence as an oral communicator, his penchant for leadership and his lucid writing style.

Extensive achievements in the laboratory have not prevented Mr. Soliman from extracurricular initiatives, including the foundation of the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute Journal Club at Mount Sinai Hospital, and work as a student representative on the Graduate Education Council. He has also volunteered at Mount Sinai in the Acute Care for Elders unit, assisting the medical and nursing team in improving the quality of life of older patients.  He also served as a judge on the health sciences and biotechnology panels at the Toronto Science and Technology Fair for high school students.

UTAA Graduate Scholars

Tom Ziming Lu

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. He has won the NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship as well as an NSERC postgraduate scholarship. He has complemented his research into the regulatory mechanisms of pacemaker cells with athletics, including the management of the Victoria College Dragon Boat Team. After completing his PhD, Mr. Lu plans to expand his ambitions into clinical applications by pursuing a medical degree.

Jeannine M. Pitas

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. Her diverse specialties are modern Latin American and Polish literature, which she approaches as both a critic and a translator. Ms. Pitas has experience as a teacher of English in Nicaragua and Uruguay. She plans to research Southern Cone Latin American Literature. 

 

John H. Moss Scholarship Recipient

Katherine Bruce-Lockhart

As the author of articles on such timely subjects as food security, refugee rights and disappearing languages for the Toronto Star and CTV News Online, Katherine deVries Bruce-Lockhart has already applied the insights she has acquired in her studies to the wider world. Her advocacy and passion for justice have led to her leadership roles in the G8 Research Group at the Munk School of Global Affairs, the Hart House Social Justice Committee and the Humanity for Humanities program.

Ms. Bruce-Lockhart has achieved a cumulative 4.0 grade point average in her pursuit of an Honours B.A in History and African Studies. She entered the University of Toronto with a Bank of Montreal National Scholarship and was accepted into the Lester B. Pearson stream of the Vic One program at Victoria College. Ms Bruce-Lockhart was awarded the Vic One Stick by faculty and her fellow students in recognition of her multiple talents and positive character traits. She is the only female to have received this honour.

Other accolades include the Jackman Humanities Institute Undergraduate Fellowship for 2011-2012 for a project focused on runaway slave communities, reparations, and memory in Brazil. Ms. Bruce-Lockhart was also on the Dean’s List for the top 10 percent of students in the Faculty of Arts & Science in 2009-2010. She won the Albert E. Rabjohns Scholarship for the student in the Major or Specialist program in History with the highest combined GPA in the courses taken in second and third year, and was a finalist for both the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford and the Gates Scholarship at Cambridge. Her research on women, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS is slated to appear in Women & Environments International Magazine. Ms. Bruce-Lockhart is the editor of two U of T undergraduate journals, The Future of History and the Diaspora and Transnational Studies Students’ Union Journal.

Despite her academic achievements, Ms. Bruce-Lockhart has found time to work as a mentor for the Vic One-On-One program and is the Chair of the Youth Advisory Board for the Mighty Pen. She is also an accomplished athlete, having played on the Varsity Blues Women’s Soccer team and achieved high standing in several marathons. Ms. Bruce-Lockhart plans an academic career in African Studies with special emphasis on the redressing of historical injustices. Next year, she will be pursuing a MSc in African Studies at Oxford University, where she has been awarded a Clarendon Scholarship.

UTAA Scholars

Sima Atri

An alumna of the Lester B. Pearson stream of the Vic One program, Sima Atri has pursued independent research on children involved in conflict and transitional justice in Uganda. She was named to the Dean’s List in 2009, 2010 and 2011, has worked with numerous student groups on human rights issues, is a lead analyst with the G8 Research Group, and is co-president of the Peace and Conflict Studies Student Union. Ms. Atri was the co-founder of Canada EH! and is a successful debater in English and French. She begins law school in the fall.

Alicia Cundall

Having earned a 4.0 cumulative GPA in a wide range of science and humanities courses, Alicia Cundall looks forward to a career as a family physician in the service of Canadian Aboriginal mothers in remote areas. Her passion for health issues has been sparked by volunteer work in seven countries. She has worked with HIV/AIDS orphans in Tanzania, as a researcher for the Ministry of Health in Zambia and as a youth-policy coordinator for the United Nations. In addition to organizing interfaith discussion and action groups at U of T Scarborough, Ms. Cundall has used her talents as a harpist and vocalist in cultural events on campus. She has facilitated literacy programs for 11-15-year-olds in rural and urban communities across Canada. Ms. Cundall’s peer -training work has established a strong connection between U of T Scarborough and the nearby Mornelle Court neighbourhood.

Salvator Cusimano

Salvator Cusimano has achieved a 4.0 cumulative grade point average while pursuing volunteer activities on campus and internationally. On campus, he has served on the executive of the Association of Political Science Students and as Editor-in-Chief of the Attaché Journal of International Affairs, while also conducting a research project for the Mosaic Institute. He has also played soccer, as captain of the Trinity College team and in the Tri-Campus program. Internationally, he has conducted a major independent research project on peace-building in northern Uganda, worked with his peers to design and implement a development project in Peru, and held an internship at Global Policy Forum in New York City.

Darryl Hoving

A physics specialist and mathematics major with a minor in nanoscience, Darryl Hoving has been awarded 17 scholarships, including a NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship. He has worked with the Max Planck Group at the Universität Hamburg on electron diffraction and atomic holography and taken nanotechnology courses for credit at the National University of Singapore. Mr. Hoving has served on the Program Advisory Committee of the Faculty of Arts & Science and worked as an in-house peer tutor at Innis College.