UTM faculty and staff honoured at reception for retirees

UTM staff and faculty gathered June 17 at the Faculty Club to reminisce, to celebrate and to bid a fond farewell to retiring colleagues.

“We come together to recognized the tremendous contributions our colleagues have made here at UTM,” said Professor Deep Saini, vice-president of the University of Toronto and principal of U of T Mississauga.

“A community is made up of people, and it is the people who work at UTM who make this campus so very special,” Saini said. “It is sad to see these people go.” Saini congratulated the retirees, and thanked them for their years of dedicated service to the campus.

Honoured at the reception were Jan Fal, Vlasta Horak and Edna Whitby (Facilities, Management & Planning), Professor Ian Graham (Mathematical & Computational Sciences), Jane Carey and Dita Klimas (Psychology), Rubina Lewis (Chemical & Physical Sciences) and Dave Taylor (Information & Instructional Technology Services).

Professor Ian Graham retires after 41 years with the campus. Associate chair Ilia Binder recounted Graham’s achievements, which include 51 published papers and several books. Binder said that Graham was noted for his calm and steady personality. “He is always level headed, no matter what comes his way.”

Psychology lab coordinator Jane Carey retires after 28 years at UTM. Director Bruce Schneider thanked Carey her work with the Human Communication Laboratory, reminiscing that Carey was instrumental in helping him settle in to campus culture when he arrived in 1974. “Jane contributed to the ambiance at the lab and, in turn, the ambiance at the university. I was shocked by the friendliness here, but Jane is an exemplar of the people who make UTM such a pleasant place to work.” Schneider noted that Carey has long organized the lunchtime soccer games and will be back to keep players on the field.

Lab technician Rubina Lewis retires after 30 years at UTM. Lewis previously worked at the St. George campus for 11 years. Program director Scott Prosser lauded Lewis for creating “an air of camaradie” in the lab and for ensuring students and staff alike were challenged to do their best work. “This was my first job, and it is my last job,” Lewis said. “I basically grew up at U of T.” Many students have also grown up during her time in the lab, Lewis noted, pointing out several former students at the reception who are now staff at UTM. “I’m really proud of them,” she said.

Three staff from the Facilities, Management & Planning department retired this year. Caretaking and campus services manager Natalie Carriero thanked caretakers Jan Fal and Vlasta Horak and lead hand Edna Whitby, who leave after a combined 63 years with the university. Whitby, who was known to students and colleagues alike as “Mama,” was renowned for preparing big meals to fortify Mississauga Academy of Medicine students at exam time.

AV coordinator Dave Taylor was recognized for 38 years of service. “Dave was really the face of UTM,” said manager Andrew Veglio, noting that Taylor supported and coordinated classroom technology needs from the era of analog through to cloud computing. Taylor, who previously worked on the St. George campus for seven years before arriving at Erindale College, was known for his ready sense of humour. Taylor plans to move his legendary music collection to the heritage country home he and his wife, Margaret, have restored in a small town near Peterborough, Ontario.

Also retiring this year, but not present at the reception were political science professor Graham White, who retires after 31 years with U of T, and pyschology PUMP room coordinator Dita Klimas, who retires after 39 years of service.