Recipients of the 2017 Excellence Awards stand together in the Faculty Club

Celebrating Excellence at UTM

Blake Eligh

U of T Mississauga recognized excellence in research, teaching and staff service at the the 2017 Excellence Awards reception, which took place in the Faculty Club on November 14.

Vice-President & Principal Ulrich Krull hosted the packed annual event which recognizes the outstanding work of UTM staff, faculty and teaching assistants. “Today we celebrate those people from our community who have done particularly well,” he said. “These individuals are the best among us, who are building our community and making it a better place.”

Three faculty members were recognized with the E.A. Robinson Teaching Excellence Award: assistant professor of biology Sanja Hinic-Frlog; assistant professor of English and drama Lawrence Switzky; and geography professor Yuhong He were lauded for outstanding teaching by a faculty member. They will each receive $5,000 for teaching-related initiatives.

The Karen Thiffault Staff Service Award went to biomedical communications program officer Maeve Doyle and undergraduate exams coordinator Wendy Norman for their service to the life of the campus in ways that go far beyond job parameters. Norman and Doyle were awarded $2,000 each for staff development.

The June Scott Teaching Excellence Award went to Michael Donnelly of the Department of English and Drama, and Bernice Iarocci of the Department of Visual Studies. The teaching assistants were lauded for outstanding commitment to teaching and received $2,000 each to be used for conference travel or professional development.

Political science professor Ron Beiner received the Desmond Morton Research Excellence Award in recognition of the breadth, impact and excellence of his research. Beiner will receive $5,000 for research activities or professional development and will deliver the Research Excellence Award lecture on January 30, 2018. Beiner will discuss his research, which considers two influential thinkers of the last 150 years—Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger—and the recent rise of populist right-wing ideologies and political movements.