Concordia recognizes its award-winning faculty at an annual celebration

Concordia honoured 17 faculty at this year’s faculty awards celebration. The event, held at the John Molson Building’s ninth-floor conference centre on June 7, featured winners of the Provost’s Circle of Distinction, Academic Leadership Awards, President’s Excellence in Teaching Awards and Concordia University Award for Graduate Mentoring.

The Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, recognized the 2023 winners for their excellence in teaching and academic leadership, among other achievements.

Concordia President Graham Carr expressed his admiration for the accomplishments of the winners, noting the significance of their efforts.

“The impact the honourees have had on their students by keeping them engaged and providing them with support is invaluable,” Carr said. “It is hard to find a better example of excellence and leadership within the Concordia community, and I thank them for their contributions.”

Provost’s Circle of Distinction

The Provost’s Circle of Distinction, established in 2008, is an internal recognition of faculty and librarians who have received awards from external bodies such as the Order of Canada, the Order of Quebec, the Royal Society and 3M National Teaching Fellowships, among others.

Adam Radomsky, professor of psychology, was conferred a Fellowship in the Canadian Psychological Association in the Clinical Psychology section for his contributions to the field. His work focuses on cognitive, behavioural and emotional aspects of obsessive-compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders.

Radomsky is also a top-ranked researcher highly engaged in student training.

Selvadurai Dayanandan, professor and chair of the Department of Biology, received the Mary E. Elliott Award from the Canadian Botanical Association (2022) and was conferred a foreign fellowship into the Society for Science of Climate Change and Sustainable Environment (2020). Over the past 25 years, he has contributed significantly to the Canadian Botanical Association as webmaster, vice-president and associate editor of the journal Botany.

Dayanandan is an engaging and welcoming leader in the field of climate science and sustainability who has won impressive awards for his research in biodiversity, botany and evolutionary genomics.

Chih-Chien Wang, assistant professor of photography in the Department of Studio Arts, received the Prix Louis-Comtois in 2020, an award that supports and promotes the work and quality of an artist who has distinguished themself on Montreal’s contemporary art scene in the previous 15 years. Wang also received the Duke and Duchess of York Prize for Photography in 2017.

His prolific career as an artist has included a variety of public art commissions and international exhibitions.

Angélique Willkie, associate professor of contemporary dance, was a recipient of the Prix de la danse de Montréal, catégorie interprète. It’s awarded to a Quebec performance artist whose professional dance work presented in the province during the previous year was deserving of a special note.

She is an internationally known dance artist with more than 30 years of public performance experience in some of the top companies of the world. The City of Montreal also recognized Willkie for Confession publique, a solo work exploring self-knowledge, transformation and intimacy.

Emad Shihab, professor of computer science and software engineering, was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. He has been recognized widely for his award-winning leadership in software engineering and software quality, as well as his development of a variety of tools and techniques that have been used by major companies.

Shihab’s work has brought strong visibility to the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Tristan Glatard, associate professor of computer science and software engineering, was also inducted into the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. He has been celebrated for his world-class interdisciplinary research that uniquely combines computer science and neuroimaging.

Glatard has also had a strong impact on the Concordia community by generating new tools and methods that have increased the profile of the Gina Cody School.

Youmin Zhang, professor of mechanical, industrial and aerospace engineering was appointed as Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world’s largest technical professional organization for the advancement of technology. He has been recognized globally for his expertise and his outstanding contributions to fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control systems.

Academic Leadership Awards

The Academic Leadership Awards recognize veteran and emerging faculty for their devotion to Concordia’s mission and to the academic life of their department, the university and the wider academic community. The recipients have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made outstanding contributions to the university in both formal and informal capacities.

Elyse Amend is an associate professor and undergraduate program director in the Department of Journalism. She has made remarkable contributions to academic life at Concordia and beyond by reinvigorating her department’s weekly undergraduate program lecture series and redesigning the capstone course.

Amend also places an emphasis on curriculum innovation and prioritizes designing new courses that focus on digital innovation.

Suong Van Hoa, professor of mechanical, industrial and aerospace engineering, has demonstrated leadership above and beyond any formal requirements of his role. He has been an outstanding leader in his department, helping it to regain its strength after a very difficult time and growing it to become the largest department in the university, with 10 programs: three bachelor’s, five master’s and two PhDs.

Hoa has also made outstanding efforts to get the Bachelor of Industrial Engineering program accredited with the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board.

Cody Hyndman, associate professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has contributed significantly to the development and leadership of a new undergraduate specialization program within his role as the Mathematical and Computational Finance program director since its inception.

He has led the restructuring and rebranding of the Joint Major in Mathematics and Statistics and Computer Applications to a Joint Major in Data Science, developed a new Minor in Quantitative Finance and Insurance and contributed external committee and liaison work with Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada CREATE program and the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute.

Kelly Jazvac, associate professor of studio arts, has had a significant role in the development of new content and pedagogy aimed at decolonizing the curriculum, as well as in sustainable practices within the Concordia community and beyond. Her work as graduate program director has included the development of best practices for critiques within the MFA program, which has both improved student experience and inspired colleagues.

Jazvac contributions to the Sculpture program have also helped cement Concordia’s position as a premier institution for studio arts education in Canada.

President’s Excellence in Teaching Awards

The President’s Excellence in Teaching Awards recognize sustained excellence in the ability to engage students, stimulate intellectual growth, encourage their highest achievements, inspire independent and original thinking and support a diversity of student learning needs.

Anthony Noce, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, has developed active, experiential learning experiences that keep students interested. More than 700 students register for his revision of the Canadian Economic Policy and Institutions (ECON 318) course and the International Economic Policy and Institutions (ECON 319) course every year.

Noce’s creation of the Armchair Discussion Series with Canadian Senators also attracted more than 500 participants. He brings economic models to life by relating them to current, real-world policy issues and is appreciated for his development of critical thinking through argumentation and ‘incidental’ learning.

The interdisciplinary reach Eleni Panagiotarakou has accomplished through her teaching is notable, as she has been a part-time faculty member in several departments, including the Department of Philosophy. She consistently collaborates with her colleagues, stepping in to fill teaching needs. As a result, she has taught 17 different courses in five different departments over the past five years.

Panagiotarakou has also demonstrated impressive leadership and commitment to service by participating in two committees reviewing course evaluations, acting as a peer mentor in the Sustainability Co-design project and by chairing the Research and Professional Development Committee for the part-time faculty union, CUPFA. In addition to building effective and flexible assessment practices, her clear goals for future pedagogical development speak to her continuous commitment to the university.

Even from her junior position, Nicole De Silva, assistant professor of political science, has served as an extraordinary example to her departmental colleagues. She has shown her dedication to student engagement during online and blended learning by her piloting of YuJa video quiz technology, working collaboratively with the Centre for Teaching and Learning and Instructional and Information Technology Services.

De Silva’s outstanding leadership skills and efforts in creating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment have deeply impacted the lives of her students. Her interest in the continuous improvement of her pedagogy and her work on equity, diversity and inclusion committees in the department and on the Board of the Canadian Political Science Association demonstrate her commitment to the Concordia and broader academic communities.

Brian Vermeire, associate professor of mechanical, industrial and aerospace engineering, has developed a freely available, ever-expanding package of open-source educational resources to teach computational fluid dynamics that has been accessed thousands of times in more than 90 countries. With that resource and the creation of a micro work-integrated learning program for high school and CEGEP students, the impact of his teaching and pedagogical leadership extends well beyond Concordia’s classrooms.

Antoinette Scaringi is an assistant professor of marketing who emphasizes experiential learning to identify specific skills that students can develop through hands-on activities. For example, one of her graduate activities provided a real-world learning opportunity by incorporating a term-long market analysis which culminated in a presentation to industry professionals.

It is a significant accomplishment to have successfully and meaningfully introduced these engaging and highly collaborative activities in Scaringi’s classes as an assistant professor with a limited-term position and course coordinator in a large department.

Graduate Mentoring Award

David Howes, professor of sociology and anthropology, received the Concordia University Award for Graduate Mentoring, which is presented for outstanding leadership in mentoring a graduate student or students all the way from course completion through research and placement. As a result of his contributions to graduate education, he has also been nominated as the Concordia candidate for the Geoffrey Marshall Award through the Northeastern Association of Graduate Schools and the Dr. Suning Wang Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship through the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies.
 

Learn more about Concordia’s Provost’s Circle of Distinction, Academic Leadership Awards and President’s Excellence in Teaching Awards.