Dr. Gary Kachanoski has presented the President’s Awards for 2016, honouring outstanding educators, researchers, staff members and organizations.
The president’s awards recognize excellence in public engagement, teaching, research, service to Memorial and community service. The awards were formally presented at a special ceremony on the St. John’s campus on Dec. 14.
“This is a great university and a wonderful place to work because of the talented people who work across all of our campuses and locations. I appreciate your passion, dedication and all that you do for our university,” Dr. Kachanoski told the group.
“Our award recipients serve as role models for the entire Memorial community, whether it’s helping students to discover their true potential, inspiring their co-workers by their dedication to Memorial, or partnering to address community needs.”
John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professorship
Dr. Alex Faseruk, Faculty of Business Administration, was presented the John Lewis Paton Distinguished University Professorship.
The award, named for the first president of Memorial University College, recognizes faculty who embody the university’s mission by demonstrating exceptional teaching, undertaking world-class research and sharing their knowledge and expertise widely.
The award is comprised of the lifetime designation Distinguished University Professor and a one-time unrestricted grant ($20,000) to support future research, teaching and/or public engagement activities at Memorial University.
Public Engagement Partnerships
The President’s Awards for Public Engagement Partnerships celebrate exemplary community-university collaborations that are in keeping with the goals of Memorial’s Public Engagement Framework.
Up to two awards are offered annually for partnerships between one or more students, staff and/or faculty members and an organization or group from outside Memorial.
This year, awards have been presented to Dr. Rose Ricciardelli, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Peter Clark, RCMP, for their project on Extrajudicial Measures in Newfoundland and Labrador; and Dr. Lisa Rankin, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Jack Shiwak, Rigolet Inuit Community Government, for the Double Mer Point Archaeological Project.
Research awards
Dr. Nancy Dahn and Timothy Steeves, School of Music, and Dr. Thomas Michalak, Faculty of Medicine, were named University Research Professors.
The title University Research Professor is a designation above the rank of professor and goes to a faculty member who has demonstrated a consistently high level of scholarship and whose research is of a truly international stature.
The President’s Award for Outstanding Research was awarded to Dr. Karen Goodnough, Faculty of Education, and Dr. Christopher Rowley, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science. The President’s Award for Outstanding Research recognizes young researchers who have made significant contributions to their scholarly disciplines.
Teaching awards
Dr. Brent Snook, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Science, has been awarded the President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate and Post-graduate Supervision.
This award recognizes exemplary efforts to foster success in the research and scholarship of their graduate or post-graduate students and to advance their students’ success in their profession.
The President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, recognizing teaching excellence in the university community, was presented to Danny Dyer, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, and Dr. Glyn George, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.
The President’s Award for Outstanding Teaching (Faculty) has been awarded to Dr. Ailsa Craig, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
The President’s Award for Outstanding Teaching (Lecturers and Instructional Staff) has been awarded to Elizabeth Russell, Psychology.
Other teaching awards — for outstanding teaching — recognize remarkable efforts in the classroom by faculty members with 5-10 years of service to the university, and lecturers and instructional staff with a minimum of five-course sections taught.
Service awards
The President’s Award for Exceptional Community Service has been awarded to David Mercer, Queen Elizabeth II Library. This award is presented in recognition of employees (faculty or staff) who have demonstrated outstanding community service.
The President’s Awards for Exemplary Service have been awarded to five remarkable Memorial community members. They are Bernie Brockerville, Office of Career Integrated Learning, Student Affairs, Marine Institute; Juanita Hennessey, Internationalization Office; Jinghua Nie, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science; Ann Sanger, Information Services Division, Queen Elizabeth II Library; and Mary Wall, Faculty of Science.
The President’s Award for Exemplary Service is presented to employees who have demonstrated outstanding service and/or who have made significant contributions to the university community beyond that normally expected for their positions.
