Ontario Tech University honours faculty and staff for their exemplary service
AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE, 10-YEAR AND 20-YEAR SERVICE AWARDS, AND CELEBRATE TEACHING! AWARDS PRESENTED TO DOZENS OF OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEES
May 22, 2024
Over the last 20 years, Ontario Tech University’s reputation for high-quality teaching, student services, work-integrated learning opportunities and overall student satisfaction has grown steadily. This success hinges on the contributions and dedication of a diverse and collaborative community of faculty and staff members.
Ontario Tech recently hosted two special events to recognize these achievements:
- Celebrate Teaching! Awards
The Celebrate Teaching! Awards ceremony on March 27 highlighted excellence in teaching, teaching innovation, and educational leadership at the university. The awards acknowledge the impact instructors of all kinds have on the university campus, and in the community.
Celebrate Teaching! award descriptions, nominees and recipients ( winners bolded):
- Award for Excellence in Teaching: Recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates sustained and superior achievements in undergraduate and/or graduate teaching, as well as educational service and leadership.
- Brendan MacDonald, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Thomas McMorrow, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (recipient)
- Robyn Ruttenberg-Rozen, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Early Career Teaching Award: Recognizes innovation and excellence in teaching by individuals in the first five years of their teaching career (as of December 31, 2023).
- Zeinab El-Sayegh, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Emilia King, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (recipient)
- Gabby Resch, Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Bobby Stojanoski, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
- Stephanie Thompson, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Learning Reimagined Award: Recognizes individuals or groups who demonstrate unique and original solutions to specific problems of practice in their classes.
- Ana Duff, Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Brenda Jacobs, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education (recipient)
- Jennifer Laffier, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Sharon Lauricella, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
- Brendan MacDonald, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Sharman Perera, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Bobby Stojanoski, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
- Stephanie Thompson, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Open Education Award: Recognizes individuals or groups who act by contributing, attributing, releasing, and empowering the use of open educational practices throughout our campuses and beyond.
- Ana Duff, Faculty of Business and Information Technology (recipient)
- Anna Rodrigues, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Annette Tavares, Faculty of Science
- Student Choice Awards: Awarded to the top student-nominated instructor in each Faculty who contributes to teaching and learning within our campus community.
- Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Nelson Amaral(recipient)
- Tina Cloutier
- Mehdi Hossein-Nejad
- Samaneh Mazaheri
- Amanda McEachern-Gaudet
- Adam Prokop
- James Robb
- Karthik Sankaranarayanan
- Kayla Tomulka
- Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Anwar Abdalbari
- Martin Agelin-Chaab
- Murat Aydin
- Ahmad Barari
- Naglaa Elagamy
- Khalid Elgazzar
- John Froats
- Sayyed Ali Hosseini
- Dima Jawad
- Brendan MacDonald
- Nasim Moallemi
- Atef Mohany (recipient)
- Namdar Saniei
- Sheldon Williamson
- Mohamed Youssef
- Aaron Yurkewich
- Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Tricia Dwyer-Kuntz
- Brenda Jacobs (recipient)
- Jennifer Laffier
- Stephanie Thompson
- Faculty of Health Sciences
- Lavern Bourne
- Arlene De La Rocha
- Crystal Garvey
- Joseph Gurgis
- Mikael Khan
- Sarah Mavor
- Syed Qadri (recipient)
- Patricia Riley
- Mona Rogan
- Otto Sanchez
- Paul Yielder
- Faculty of Science
- Mihai Beligan
- Rupinder Brar (recipient)
- Franco Gaspari
- Ilona Kletskin
- Mariana Shimabukuro
- Ana Vakiloroayaei
- Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
- Andrea Braithwaite
- Logan Ewanation (recipient)
- Jordan Harel
- Leigh Harkins
- Vivian Stamatopoulos
- Shannon Vettor
- Zhemeng Wu
- Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Teaching Assistant Award: Recognizes teaching assistants who demonstrate superior commitment to their students through effective teaching.
- Juan Carlo Alicaway, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Hannah Atkinson, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Guadalupe Blanco-Velasco, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
- Alannis Davis, Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Taraneh Dehghani, Faculty of Science
- Ingi Hong, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Ashley Hope, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Prachal Jadeja, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Md Omar Faruq Joney, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Daimen Landori-Hoffmann, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Arujan Parameswaran, Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Akash Samanta, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Peimaneh Shirazi, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
- Hailey Tabbert, Faculty of Health Sciences (recipient)
- Hamed Tadayyoniahrab, Faculty of Health Sciences
- Sara Taghavi Motlagh, Faculty of Business and Information Technology
- Julie Vizza, Faculty of Health Sciences
- Tim McTiernan Student Mentorship Award: Recognizes individuals who consistently demonstrate a passion for supporting student success, an ability to inspire personal and professional growth and an outstanding commitment to promoting the values of the university.
- Bill Hunter, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education
- Lindsay Malloy, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (recipient)
- Elita Partosoedarso, Faculty of Health Sciences
- Lawrence Joseph Ruse, Faculty of Science
- Laura Thursby, Student Learning Centre, Office of Student Life
- Award for Excellence in Teaching: Recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates sustained and superior achievements in undergraduate and/or graduate teaching, as well as educational service and leadership.
- Staff Awards of Excellence
On May 7, 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 Amber Mac, a podcaster, bestselling author, and media host on the topic of AI and emerging technology. Following the speech, attendees participated in a trivia activity to test their knowledge of the institution and look back to the year 2003 when the university first opened its doors to students.
Staff Awards of Excellence descriptions:
- Fiercely Ontario Tech: Recognizes a frontline staff member who consistently strives to support a culture of service excellence.
- 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.
- 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.
- Ridgeback Award: Recognizes a staff member who is a real team player and an excellent ambassador for the institution.
- Community Collaborator: Recognizes individuals or teams who help build rewarding relationships at the university, within our local community, or beyond.
Staff Awards of Excellence nominees and winners:
- Laina Andrews
- Matthew Devlin
- Taylor Flood – Ridgeback Award winner
- Kaitlynn Gambier
- Kerri-Ann Lauder
- Matt Lucchese – Fiercely Ontario Tech winner
- Danielle Saney – Rising Star winner
- Isabel Savransky
- Susan Snelling
- Yvonne Stefanin – Community Collaborator winner
- Bessie Zhang
- ACE Team: Gord Koehne, John Komar, Mark Klintworth, Paula Ambra, Rick Szymczyk, Stephanie Walter, Vijyat Bhalla, and Warren Karlson – U Make a Mark winner
- Digital Recruitment Team: Cassidy Dawson, Grace Morgan, Joyce Chan, Kristie Arbour, Kyle Laviolette, Ryan Beaton, and Sarah Tsimelkas – U Make a Mark winner
10-year Service Award
Recognizing the significant service of the university’s valued employees who reached 10 years of service in the year 2023.
- Asifa Aamir, Faculty of Business and Information Technology (FBIT)
- Jennifer Abbass Dick, Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS)
- Rajen Akalu, FBIT
- Scott Aquanno, Faculty of Social Science and Humanities (FSSH)
- Christine Cairns, IT Services Department
- Corrina D’Alessio, Office of the Vice President, Administration
- Hendrick De Haan, Faculty of Science (FSc)
- Shilpa Dogra, FHS
- Richard Drake, FSc
- Joseph Eastwood, FSSH
- Mehran Ebrahimi, FSc
- Karla Emeno, FSSH
- Randy Fortier, FSc
- Jennifer Goldsmith, Office of the Registrar
- Leigh Harkins, FSSH
- Jessica Husted, Office of the Registrar
- Anna Jaworski, IT Services Department
- Bryan Lee, Office of the Deputy Provost
- Brendan MacDonald, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science FEAS
- Matthew Mackenzie, Office of the President
- Qusay Mahmoud, FEAS
- Ami Mamolo, Mitch and Leslie Frazer Faculty of Education FEd
- Pejman Mirza-Babaei, FBIT
- Mark Neville, Office of Student Life
- Andrew Norman, ACE
- Efrosini Papaconstantinou, FHS
- Melissa Price, Office of the Vice President, Administration
- Jennifer Rinaldi, FSSH
- Karthik Sankaranarayanan, FBIT
- Matthew Shane, FSSH
- Nicole Sluyk, Office of the Deputy Provost
- Joel Stewart, FBIT
- Lisa Townsend, Office of the Provost
- Robert Ulrich, FEAS
- Anthony Van De Wetering, ACE
- Wendy Young, IT Services Department
- Mohamed Youssef, FEAS
20-year Service Award
Recognizing the significant service of the university’s valued employees who reached 20 years of service in the year 2023.
- Michael Allison, FSc
- Sylvie Bardin, FSc
- Richard Bartholomew, FSc
- Ken Bright, Office of Campus Infrastructure and Sustainability
- Wesley Chrichlow, FSSH
- Ibrahim Dincer, FEAS
- Amy Dixon Anderson, Office of the Deputy Provost
- Andra Drinkwalter, Office of the Registrar
- John Dumratt, Library
- John Friedlan, FBIT
- Ali Grami, FEAS
- Bill Hunter, FEd
- Valeri Kapoustine, FSc
- Sharon Lauricella, FSSH
- Manon Lemonde, FHS
- Greg Lewis, FSc
- Brad MacIsacc, Office of the Vice President, Administration
- Kimberley McCartney, Office of Planning and Analysis
- Anita Nutikka, FSc
- Diana Petrarca, FEd
- Remon Pop-Iliev, FEAS
- Sarah Rasile, Advancement Department
- Marc Rosen, FEAS
- Otto Sanchez, FHS
- Hannah Scott, FSSH
- Roland van Oostveen, FEd
- Ed Waller, FEAS
- Clive Waugh, Advancement Department
Quote:
"Congratulations to all our exceptional employees and faculty members who have been recognized for their outstanding contributions to Ontario Tech University. Your commitment to excellence and dedication to our students' success is truly inspiring. This recognition highlights the innovative culture and talented people that define our university. Thank you for your continued efforts in making Ontario Tech University a truly remarkable institution.”
- Dr. Steven Murphy, President and Vice-Chancellor, Ontario Tech University