We’re proud of our committed faculty members, who are proven leaders at York University and within the community. Engaged in vital, ground-breaking work, they’re earning honours for their scholastic achievements and research beyond the classroom, including internal and external awards, and research chair appointments. These dynamic individuals are significantly enhancing the quality of learning for York students and making positive change on a local and global scale.
Teaching Awards
Our faculty members are known for their dedication to students and skilled at making their learning experience both rewarding and enjoyable. A number of our faculty members are regularly nominated for teaching awards, and several of them have been formally recognized with the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award and the LA&PS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Please see most recent examples below.
2023 Pierre DeCelles Award goes to Professor Naomi Couto
The Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) and the Institute of Public Administration in Canada (IPAC) are pleased to announce the winner of the 2023 Pierre DeCelles Award is Professor Naomi Couto, former Graduate Program Director, Master of Public Policy, Administration and Law (MPPAL) Program, School of Public Policy & Administration, at York University. IPAC and CAPPA’s Pierre De Celles Award recognizes the outstanding skill, accomplishment and commitment of an exceptionally creative and effective teacher. Pierre De Celles was Director General of École nationale d’administration publique (ÉNAP), and was known as a gifted teacher.
Professor Couto is a long-time instructor at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University, with a record of excellence and innovation in the classroom. Her contribution to the quality of education as Graduate Program Director and now as Director has been outstanding, encompassing expanding course offerings, establishing a new program in municipal government, nurturing student and alumni associations, establishing links with public sector organizations, and mentoring individual students.
2015-2016 LA&PS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching goes to Professor Sirvan Karimi
It is my great pleasure to announce that Professor Sirvan Karimi has been awarded the LA&PS Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in the contract faculty category. Widely known for his packed classrooms and long course waitlists, Professor Karimi is being recognized as a skillful teacher who has mastered “the art of making even the most complicated and difficult to understand concepts very easy to understand.” As a dedicated teacher, he goes above and beyond to make sure that no student is lost in his class, they all achieve tangible learning targets, and excel professionally in the field of public administration. Therefore, Dean Ananya Mukherjee-Reed also acknowledged him for his dedicated mentorship of students on September 15th, by formally presenting the award to Professor Karimi at the first meeting of the LA&PS Faculty Council. Congratulations to Professor Karimi on this well-deserved honour!
2015 President’s University-Wide Teaching Award goes to Professor Peter Constantinou
We are very pleased to inform that our colleague Professor Constantinou has been awarded the President’s University-Wide Teaching Award in the Contract and Adjunct Faculty category.
Professor Constantinou’s award letter states, “You are clearly a creative teacher who develops in students a capacity for critical thinking and a passion for public service”…. and that … “It is evident that the concepts that your philosophy of teaching rests on – respect, enthusiasm and experiential education – are successfully implemented in your teaching practice.”
This is another tangible sign of the dedication and commitment of the faculty in our School to teaching and to our students, our discipline, and to the profession of public service.
Congratulations Professor Constantinou on this outstanding achievement and thank you all for your commitment and dedication to our students’ higher education.
Research Awards
We foster an environment of research excellence at the School and take pride in the achievements of faculty members as well as students. Recent highlights include: