The Faculty of Science hosted its annual Honours & Awards Ceremony on Jan. 29 to celebrate the hard work and achievements of faculty and students. Certificates were presented to graduate and undergraduate students for both academic excellence and extra-curricular involvement, as family members in the audience cheered. The event saw a record number of attendees, totaling more than 400.
York alumnus Chris Scott, chief meteorologist and head of meteorology at Pelmorex Corp, the parent company of The Weather Network, presented the keynote speech. Scott earned a combined honours degree in atmospheric science and atmospheric chemistry at York University in 1998, and now he leads a dynamic team of 30 meteorologists who produce millions of weather forecasts daily and who are developing the next generation of forecasting technology.
Associate Dean of Students Mike Scheid and Dean of Science Rui Wang spoke about the dedication and time involved in achieving excellence and congratulated the students on their accomplishments.
“Every year students and their families take part in this great event,” said Scheid, who was the event’s Master of Ceremonies. “It really showcases how strong our students are, and as a community we take great pride in celebrating their achievements. After a long academic year, they can take a moment to step back and enjoy the outcome of all their hard work.”
Among the graduate students, certificates were presented to the recipients of the NSERC Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral, including to Tamari Chkuaseli, Nathan Gold, Alexander Klenov, Jacob O’Brien and Alyssa Murdoch; the Susan Mann Dissertation Scholarship, including Anita Buragohain, Paige Whyte-Fagundes and Thomas Onuferko; and the C.D Fowle Graduate Scholarship in Ecology, including Alexandra Israel and Jenna LeBlanc.
The Richard Jarrell Award of Excellence for Teaching Assistants was also presented to Nicholas Bragagnolo and Eleni Fegaras.
In the undergraduate student award category, certificates were presented to recipients of the International Excellence Scholarship, including Hyunjin Kim, Lisha Li, Ardalan Hosseini-Mansob, Tofunmi Olowogorioye and Parth Patel; the Schulich Leader Scholarship, including Rathesh Balendran, Katrina Carver, Nadav Gasner and Kezia Johnson; and the Gillian E. Wu Award in Biochemistry, including Eden Teclemichael and Esther Wolf.
In addition, awards were presented to faculty members for special contributions and excellence in teaching and research. For instance, Dean’s Special Recognition Awards were presented to Professor Matthew George in the Department of Physics & Astronomy for leading the successful overhaul of second-year physics laboratories in the Faculty of Science, and Professor Hovig Kouyoumdjian in the Department of Chemistry for his work on improving the first-year student experience in Chemistry courses and his participation in outreach activities for the Faculty of Science.