Dean Barbara Crow poses with award winners (l to r) Jeremy Stewart, Neven Lochhead, Rebecca Hall, Maxwell Hartt, and Sam McKegney.

Dean Barbara Crow poses with award winners (l to r) Jeremy Stewart, Neven Lochhead, Rebecca Hall, Maxwell Hartt, and Sam McKegney.

Associate Dean (Research) Stefanie von Hlatky chats with some of the award winners.

Associate Dean (Research) Stefanie von Hlatky chats with some of the award winners.

Three of the award winners enjoy social time at the Dean’s Awards event.

Three of the award winners enjoy social time at the Dean’s Awards event.

Associate Dean (Graduate) James Fraser speaks at the award celebration.

Associate Dean (Graduate) James Fraser speaks at the award celebration.

Sam McKegney, Teaching and Learning Innovation award winner, talks to Erin Gilbert, Social Justice award winner

Sam McKegney, Teaching and Learning Innovation award winner, talks to Erin Gilbert, Social Justice award winner.

Dean Barbara Crow chats with award winners Jacob Richard and Milana Leskovac

Dean Barbara Crow chats with award winners Jacob Richard and Milana Leskovac.

Graduate students honoured with Dean’s Awards

The Faculty of Arts and Science hosted the Dean’s Awards event, a social gathering designed to celebrate this year’s winners of the Dean’s Initiative Awards.

Created by Dean Barbara Crow, the awards support and advance priorities of the Faculty, including equity, diversity, Indigeneity, international mobility, graduate education, and teaching.

These awards are designed to encourage students, faculty, and staff to bring forward creative ideas to move the Faculty and the university forward in these areas.

“This event is the result of the work James has been doing to acknowledge the important place teaching and learning has in the Faculty of Arts and Science,” said Dean Crow of her colleague James Fraser, Associate Dean (Graduate). “It’s important to celebrate and acknowledge the significant contribution you are making to the university. Academic excellence is at the centre of what we do and transmission of knowledge in the classroom in our research is important.”

Dr. Fraser remarked there were more than 20 departments represented at the award event and everyone was interacting with other graduate students they might not have had an opportunity to meet.

“This is the first time we’ve held a social event like this,” Dr. Fraser said. “We have faculty members here who are being honoured for their teaching and faculty members who are being honoured for their great mentorship. And students in attendance that were nominated by their own departments for their excellent work.”

The Dean’s Awards for Graduate Students are based on academic merit and are intended to support graduate students in making contributions to their field of study. The maximum value of the award is $3,000. This year’s winners are:

  • Megan O’Connor (Department of Art History/Art Conservation) - Women in Technology  
  • Elizabeth Provost (Department of Art History/Art Conservation) - Women in Science  
  • Jared Augustin (Department of Cultural Studies) - Social Justice  
  • Olivia Teti (Department of Cultural Studies) - Community and Creativity  
  • Geoffrey Hodges (Department of Cultural Studies) - Social Justice  
  • Katelin Boles (Department of Global Development Studies) - Social Justice  
  • Ivanna Kazantsev (Department of Global Development Studies) - Environmental Justice  
  • Sarah Boudreau (Department of English) - Creativity and Community  
  • Erin Gilbert (Department of English) - Social Justice  
  • Daniel Lu (Department of Environmental Studies) - Global Sustainability    
  • Rhiannon Punch (Department of Environmental Studies) - Global Sustainability    
  • Roya Akbari (Department of Film and Media) - Creativity and Community  
  • Laura Kellough-Pollock (Department of Gender Studies) - Social Justice  
  • Natasha Rayman (Department of Gender Studies) - Social Justice  
  • Noa Caspi (Geography and Planning) - Women in Science  
  • Alexandra Overvelde (Geography and Planning) - Creativity and Community  
  • Kaitlyn Carter (Department of History) - Social Justice  
  • Jacob Richard (Department of History) - Social Justice  
  • Julia McLellan (Department of Math) - Women in Mathematics  
  • Jessie Niu (Department of Math) - Women in Mathematics  
  • Camilla Zienkiewicz (Master of Industrial Relations) - Women in Mathematics  
  • Abigail Bergeron (Department of Philosophy) - Social Justice  
  • Dean Joseph (Department of Philosophy) - Social Justice  
  • Claire Mountford (Department of Political Studies) - Social Justice  
  • Chelsea Dunn (Department of Political Studies) - Global Sustainability    
  • Emily Lyne Saulnier-Eagles (Department of Religion) - Global Sustainability    
  • Milana Leskovac (Department of Sociology) - Women in Technology  
  • Lauryn Bons (School of Kinesiology and Health Studies) - Women in Science  
  • Jessica Guilbault (School of Kinesiology and Health Studies) - Social Justice

Alexandra Overvelde earned the Dean’s Award for Creativity and Community and said this event helps her get out of her shell and meet other graduate students.

“An event like this opens up a lot of interdisciplinary opportunities and that is the name of the game in my field of geography and planning,” Overvelde says. “It’s also nice to put a face to a name in regards of the senior leaders.”

Also presented at the event were the Dean’s Teaching and Learning Awards and the Award for Excellence in Graduate Mentorship. Earning the honours were:

  • Sam McKegney (Department of English) - Teaching and Learning Innovation
  • Neven Lochhead (Department of Film and Media) - Teaching Fellow Award
  • Jeremy Stewart (Department of Psychology) - Teaching and Learning Excellent Award
  • Rebecca Hall (Department of Global Development Studies) - Excellence in Graduate Mentorship
  • Maxwell Hartt (Department of Geography and Planning) - Excellence in Graduate Mentorship

To learn more about the awards, visit the webpage