On May 3, the university’s Human Resources department held its Annual Employee Awards Celebration event to recognize and honour all of the university’s hardworking and dedicated employees, and celebrate award nominees, recipients, and those reaching long-serving milestones.
Hosted by President Steven Murphy and Jamie Bruno, Vice-President, People and Transformation, the event kicked off with an engaging keynote speech from Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemmons, an American-Canadian sports executive, and former running-back and current General Manager for the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League. Following the speech, Ontario Tech student ‘King David’ (David Akinyemi, Mechatronics Engineering, class of 2023) performed a rousing rendition of the Ridgebacks Anthem.
Staff Awards of Excellence descriptions, nominees and recipients:
- Fiercely Ontario Tech: Recognizes a frontline staff member who consistently strives to support a culture of service excellence.
- Elisa Beverley, Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation
- Nicola From, Office of Continuous Learning
- Mike Prasad (winner), Information Technology (IT) Services
- U Make A Mark: Recognizes individuals or teams who have developed or implemented a system, tool, initiative or program within their department, faculty or across the university which has positively impacted student success or employee experience.
- Brilliant Catalyst Team: Connor Loughlean; Denzel Sheppard-Thompson; Leen Jaber; Lina Hamouda; Marissa George; Maryam Akhtar; and Osman Hamid (winners).
- Ontario Tech Librarians: Alyssa Jeffrey; Chelsie Lalonde (Social Science and Education); Nathalie Zhou; Heather McTavish; Kaelan Caspary (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) and Data); Kate Gibbings (Engineering and Applied Science); Lydia Thorne (Health Sciences); and Trish Johns-Wilson.
- Multifactor Authentication Team: Aaron Gates; Anna Jaworski; Bradley Chicoine; and Michelle Huinink-Barnes.
- Student Learning Centre: Eda Aydin; Laura Thursby; Lindsay Smith; Mark Neville; Matthew McGravey; Olga Bulakh; Sarah Coombs; Stephanie Rufh; and Tessa Troughton.
- Rising Star: Recognizes an emerging leader who has been with the university for two years or less, and who demonstrates a passion for their work and has made a significant impact in their short time at the university.
- Davaun Francis, Office of the Registrar
- Laura Thursby Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science (FEAS) (winner)
- Community Collaborator: Recognizes individuals or teams who help build rewarding relationships at the university, within our local community, or beyond.
- Jennifer Alsop, Strategic Partnership Officer (winner)
- Kaelan Caspary, STEM and Data Librarian
- Marie Harvey, Communications and Marketing
- Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (FSSH) Experiential Learning Team: Cayla Da Silva and Dan Walters (winners)
10-year Service Award
Recognizing the significant service of the university’s valued employees who reached 10 years of service in the year 2022.
- Kevin Arbour, Regent Theatre
- Kirstie Ayotte, FSSH
- Robert Balogh, Faculty of Health Sciences (FHSc)
- Glenda Beja, Office of Student Life
- Yuri Bolshan, Faculty of Science (FSc)
- Toba Bryant, FHSc
- Poonamjit Cardoso, FHSc
- Pierre Côté, FHSc and Canada Research Chair in Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation
- Kurshid Dain, School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
- Ravinder Dhamrait, Office of the Registrar
- Julie Downes, FSc
- Gary Genosko, FSSH
- Shahla Gharibi, Faculty of Business and Information Technology (FBIT)
- Michael Guy, IT Services
- Sheree Hendricks, Finance and Business Systems
- Daniel Hoornweg, FEAS, and Richard Marceau Chair
- Alexander Kidd, IT Services
- Chelsie Lalonde, Social Science and Education Librarian
- Jia Li, Faculty of Education
- Masoud Makrehchi, FEAS
- Olga Marques, FSSH
- Stephen Marsh, FBIT
- Sherry Marshall, FHSc
- Janet Martin, Library Technician
- Brianna McKay, Senior Academic Advisor
- Jennifer McKellar, FEAS
- Tanner Mirrlees, FSSH
- Atef Mohany, FEAS
- Mary Olaveson, FSc
- Elita Partosoedarso, FHSc
- Richard Pazzi, FBIT
- Isabel Pedersen, FSSH
- Milly Ryan-Harshman, FHSc
- Stacey Sainte-Marie, FSc
- Desiree Saunders, Senior Academic Advisor
- Tarlochan Sidhu, FEAS
- Leticia Simon, Office of the Registrar – Student Awards and Financial Aid
- George Stamatiou, FSc
- Annette Tavares, FSc
- Stephanie Walter, ACE
