Reeta Roy, president and CEO of the Mastercard Foundation 鈥� an international non-governmental organization focused on empowering young Africans with education 鈥� offered several calls-to-action to Faculty of Education graduands to help shape the future of education.

鈥淵ou have an entire lifetime of impact ahead of you,鈥� Roy promised graduands during their June 17 convocation, as she began her address to them. 鈥淲hether you stand in front of the classroom or you get to decide what is taught in the classroom, whether you focus on expanding access to education or you set standards of education, you will make a difference in the lives of learners.鈥�

An advocate for the transformational power of education through her work at the Mastercard Foundation, Roy made several requests of graduands as they move ahead in their careers.

She urged them to lean into one of the most important qualities teachers can possess. 鈥淎s educators, one of the most important things you do 鈥� and you will do 鈥� is to recognize promise and talent in others, even before they may perceive it in themselves,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have the opportunity to truly see the whole person 鈥� not the boundaries and not the limitations around them.鈥�

That, she explained, can lead to something educators are uniquely positioned to do. 鈥淢ore than just see them, you will enable their passions, develop their confidence and help them believe in themselves so they can walk their own journeys and create their own opportunities,鈥� said Roy.

She also called upon graduands to transform the reality of who deserves an education, as she noted there are many who struggle to access learning due to poverty, conflict, distance, disability, lack of teachers, gender and more.

Roy noted she has seen 鈥� and worked to change 鈥� this directly, through her work with the Mastercard Foundation, which advances the development of educational opportunities for African youth and their families, and looks to empower 30 million young Africans by 2030 with the creation of educational and economic opportunities.

Roy delivered her final call to action in the form of an anecdote. She recounted a trip to Moosonee, a small town in northern Ontario sometimes referred to as 鈥渢he gateway to the Arctic.鈥� She was doing work there with the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority, training Indigenous young people to become health professionals who would help the larger medical system embody Indigenous knowledge and world views about what is healthy and what is wellness.

During her visit, she encountered 鈥� in person, for the first time 鈥� an ice road.

She learned that during winters, communities transform rivers, lakes and other bodies of water into ice that's strong enough to sustain trucks and cars transporting food, fuel and necessities to otherwise isolated communities. 鈥淚 was just stunned by the sophistication and the technical know-how to create these roads," Roy said. "The ice road reflected Indigenous technology based on traditional knowledge of living with the natural environment.鈥�

At the same time, she marvelled at the cutting-edge knowledge being integrated into the unique type of infrastructure. As climate change threatens those ice roads, making it hard to predict where dangerous cracks might form, she learned that university researchers are applying emerging technologies 鈥� like sensors and artificial intelligence 鈥� to create better predictive models that can identity where cracks and ridges may form.

The ice road 鈥� its past, present and future 鈥� reminded Roy of education. 鈥淭he ice road isn't just a bridge across waters," she said. "It's a bridge connecting communities and cultures. It鈥檚 a bridge connecting traditional knowledge with new forms of knowledge, connecting the past and the present.鈥�

In that realization, she found the lesson she wanted to impart on the Faculty of Education graduands she was addressing. 鈥淵ou can be that bridge,鈥� she urged. 鈥淏e that bridge.鈥�

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Three 91亚色 faculty members will be recognized during the 2024 Spring Convocation ceremonies with President鈥檚 University-Wide Teaching Awards for enhancing quality of learning and demonstrating innovation and excellence in teaching.

This year鈥檚 President鈥檚 University-Wide Teaching Award recipients 鈥� selected by the 91亚色 Senate 鈥� are representative of three categories: full-time faculty with 10 or more years of teaching experience; full-time faculty with less than 10 years of experience; and contract and adjunct faculty.

Each winner will not only be recognized during a convocation ceremony this spring but will have their name engraved on the University-Wide Teaching Awards plaques displayed in Vari Hall on the Keele Campus.

This year鈥檚 recipients are:

Full-time tenured faculty with 10 or more years of full-time teaching experience

Danielle Robinson, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD)

Robinson received the award in recognition of her ability to create an interdisciplinary learning environment where students from diverse academic backgrounds can work collaboratively and approach problems from contrasting directions. That ability has, in part, been channelled into her leadership around the Cross-Campus Capstone Classroom (C4) initiative, an experiential education opportunity for students that allows them approach real-world challenges with social impact in interdisciplinary ways. 

鈥淚n my collaboration with Danielle, I find her a passionate advocate for our students, excellent at organization, caring and interested in those she works with and one of the most hard-working colleagues I know," said Robinson's nominator, Professor Franz Newland, a C4 co-founder and co-academic lead. "She achieves this with a sense of fun, recognizing its importance when doing hard work. I believe she is an irreplaceable asset to 91亚色.鈥�

Robinson has been the recipient of several other awards, including the Dean鈥檚 Teaching Award for Junior Faculty (from AMPD), and the Airbus and Global Engineering Dean鈥檚 Council鈥檚 Diversity Award.

Full-time faculty with less than 10 years of teaching experience

Vidya Shah, Faculty of Education

Shah received the award for her collaborative approach to pedagogy, which looks to honour students鈥� voices and recognize their needs, interests and agency 鈥� often by incorporating their views into the content of her courses. The award also acknowledges Shah's ongoing efforts to address inequities within the larger academic community, often through inspiring a rethinking of practices in the areas of racial and social justice, as well as teaching and learning.

Her nominator, Myrtle Sodhi, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education, said of Shah, 鈥淗er ability to support a large number of students who are under-represented through various stages of their academic career speaks to Dr. Shah鈥檚 commitment to student learning, mentorship and social change.鈥� She added: 鈥淒r. Shah鈥檚 research, teaching, collaboration and mentorship has changed the landscape of the 91亚色 academic community in profound ways. She continues to inspire leadership, social justice action and academic pathways.鈥�

Shah is also the recipient of the Faculty of Education Graduate Teaching Award. In 2022, she was awarded the Leaders and Legends Award for Mentor of the Year by the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education.

Contract and adjunct faculty

Heather Lynn Garrett, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

Garrett was honoured in recognition of her her ability to engage with and motivate her students, incorporating story, anecdote, music and various media to bring course material to life. She has provided valuable mentorship to students in her program, notably through her support of the Sociology Undergraduate Student Association (SUSA). She has served as a faculty mentor of SUSA鈥檚 annual Falling in Love with Research project, guiding students in conduction sociological research on a topic chosen by SUSA members.

Garrett has twice received the John O鈥橬eill Award for Teaching Excellence by the Department of Sociology, and has been nominated for the Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence.

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91亚色 neuroscientist Jeffrey Schall has been appointed a Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Translating Neuroscience, alongside two renewals 鈥� Gillian Parekh and Joel Zylberberg 鈥� for existing CRCs, announced by the Government of Canada on June 14.

The CRC program is a major investment by the federal government (up to $300 million+ per year) to attract and retain world-class talent at Canadian universities. The program also provides training opportunities for the next generation of highly skilled personnel through research, teaching and learning.

The new and renewed CRCs at 91亚色 are:  

Jeffrey Schall is a newly appointed Tier I CRC in Translating Neuroscience and a professor in the Faculty of Science

Schall鈥檚 research aims to further understand the complexities of the brain and how it enables decision-making processes for actions and experiences: how people decide what to do, how people control when they do it and how people know if they did what they meant to do. Insights from Schall鈥檚 research could improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurological conditions like dementia and schizophrenia.  

Gillian Parekh is a renewed Tier II CRC in Disability Studies in Education and an associate professor in the Faculty of Education

Parekh is examining how schools respond to disability in order to improve student success. She and her research team are gathering and analyzing new data to develop strategies that will shed light on how 鈥渁bility鈥� is used to justify student organization within schools and the inequitable distribution of in-school resources and opportunities.

Joel Zylberberg is a renewed Tier II CRC in Computational Neuroscience and an associate professor in the Faculty of Science

Zylberberg and his research team train artificial intelligence (AI) to see and respond to images in the same way as the human brain. By teaching AI to process visual information like the brain鈥檚 visual cortex, deep learning algorithms could lead to the creation of devices that help visually impaired or blind people see again, in addition to potentially advancing technology for self-driving cars. 

91亚色鈥檚 Chairholders received $2,400,000 and are part of a $94,500,000 investment in 121 new and renewed CRCs at 39 institutions across Canada. For the full list, visit the .

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