Ryerson Service Award recipients announced
Faculty, counsellor and librarians recognized for their outstanding contributions
Eight faculty, four librarians and one counsellor are this year's recipients of the Ryerson Service Awards. The faculty awards recognize distinguished service to a department, school, faculty and/or the university, while the librarian and counsellor awards recognize excellence in professional service to a unit, the university and/or the community.
"At Ryerson, we value and celebrate exceptional contributions," said Alan Shepard, provost and vice president academic. "Each of this year's recipients have made things happen and have contributed to the enhanced reputation of their programs and departments, and to Ryerson. I congratulate and thank them all."
The award recipients will be recognized at a January 24 reception and then, on April 4, 2012, receive their certificates at the first annual Ryerson Awards Night. This event will recognize excellence from across the university and provide an opportunity to celebrate together the highest achievements of faculty and staff. Further information will be available in upcoming communications.
The Ryerson Service Award recipients and their citations are below:
Faculty Service Awards
Faculty of Arts
Martin Antony, Department of Psychology
Martin Antony has made remarkable contributions to the quality and reputation of graduate studies and research in the Department of Psychology. For four years, Martin served as graduate program director, overseeing the MA and PhD programs, and he provides supervision to seven graduate students and sits on the supervisory committees for several others. Martin has served on numerous committees within the department and the university, and with several national and international associations; most recently, he was the president of the Canadian Psychological Association. His contributions are even more remarkable in that over the past year, Martin has published two new books, written numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and holds more than $1 million in research funding from various agencies.
Naomi Koerner, Department of Psychology
Naomi Koerner has made exceptional service contributions to the Department of Psychology and to Ryerson, and has shown dedication in promoting the university to the professional psychology community. Naomi has served on a number of departmental committees and was the interim vice-chair of a university-wide Research Ethics Board committee. In 2010, she was appointed to a Canadian Institute of Health Research Peer Review committee, and has invested a significant amount of time in reviewing grant applications and participating in Ottawa-based meetings. Naomi was instrumental in helping to attract over 200 delegates to Ryerson's campus for the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies' inaugural meeting, and her efforts were reflected in her appointment as the association's current interim chair of communication and advocacy.
Faculty of Communication & Design
Robert Burley, School of Image Arts
Robert Burley's commitment to the life, vision and administration of the School of Image Arts and the university defines his Ryerson career. His ongoing role in the Ryerson Gallery initiative and his outstanding contribution in the development and launch of the faculty's first standalone graduate program, the MA in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management (PPCM), have been instrumental to the success of these initiatives. As PPCM'S first program director, Robert deftly managed the unique partnership with George Eastman House. In recent years, he has been a mainstay and key faculty leader in the space needs studies for the renovation of the Image Arts building; and as its program director, he has taken a leading role in the restructuring of the Photography Studies undergraduate curriculum.
Faculty of Community Services
Linda Cooper, The Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
Linda Cooper's exemplary service during the past academic years reflects her career-long dedication to serving the needs of the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, the Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson-at-large and the broader local, provincial and international nursing community. Linda has served for several years as chair of the nursing school's services committee and is a longstanding member of the graduate program curriculum and admissions committees. Within the faculty and university, she has contributed her time, insight and expertise to a number of committees including the Senate Appeals Committee, and her commitment to service within professional associations, both local and abroad, have helped to promote the reputation of the school, the faculty and Ryerson.
Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Science
Xavier Fernando, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Xavier Fernando has demonstrated substantial service to Ryerson, to his faculty and to his department. He is a member of the Ryerson University Board of Governors and the Ryerson Finance Committee. Xavier played a critical role in developing curriculum for the Disaster and Emergency Management Certificate Program offered by the Chang School, and his service to his profession is exceptional and extensive, particularly his contributions to IEEE, the world's largest professional association for the advancement of technology. He is a certified program evaluator for the Accreditation Board of Engineering Technologies, and has delivered talks worldwide at prestigious institutions such as Cambridge and Princeton, all of which help to enhance Ryerson's reputation.
Andrew McWilliams, Department of Chemistry and Biology
Andrew McWilliams has been a leader in Ryerson's efforts to uphold and clarify academic standards. He has helped implement new software teaching tools and techniques to enhance the learning experience for science and engineering students. As a founding member of the Molecular Science graduate program, Andrew has developed a new course for students. He has maintained a strong research program in inorganic polymers, resulting in the training of almost 15 highly qualified personnel in the last four years. Andrew has also successfully managed and improved the experiential co-op program for chemistry students, securing key contacts and building Ryerson's reputation with new and existing industry partners.
David Naylor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
David Naylor has been highly active in service, both within Ryerson and beyond. He has made significant contributions to many departmental and faculty-level committees, including as a long-standing elected member of the appointments committee. Beyond campus, David has taken a strong leadership role in the mechanical engineering community. He currently serves as past president of the Canadian Congress of Applied Mechanics, and has been an active board member of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering. David is a member of the scientific committee for the NSERC Smart Net-zero Energy Building Strategic Network, associate editor of the International Journal of Transport Phenomena and a member of several scientific committees for conference in his field.
Ted Rogers School of Management
Youcef Derbal, Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management
Since joining Ryerson in 2003, Youcef Derbal has contributed extensive insight and time to many department, faculty and university committees. He served two terms on Ryerson University Senate and contributed to faculty norms, teaching standards, curriculum and technology committees. Youcef undertook a comprehensive three-year analysis of the Information Technology Management curriculum, and established goals, learning outcomes, delivery methods, and identified gaps and redundancies in the program. He demonstrated leadership and an ability to work collegially with all stakeholders in spearheading this transformative initiative.
Librarian Awards
Ophelia Cheung, Borrowing and Lending Services: Electronic, Reserves and Audio Visual
Ophelia Cheung has made exceptional contributions to the library profession and Ryerson’s reputation in that field. She is first Ryerson librarian to co-author a book on e-reserve and copyright. Ophelia spearheaded the implementation of the innovative e-reserve system, Ares, which enables faculty to manage electronic course readings and facilitates copyright compliance. Ophelia acts as the campus copyright contact, serves on the university-wide copyright working group and co-founded a Chang School working group. She also sits on the Library's appointments and promotions committees.
Naomi Eichenlaub, Collection Services, Cataloguer
As a co-director of Project iPad, the Library's pilot program to integrate the tablet technology into learning and libraries, Naomi Eichenlaub co-presented the project's outcomes at two prominent American library conferences as well as at the Ryerson Faculty Conference. She served as a thesis advisor to two graduate students in the Photographic Preservation and Collections Management program, and continued to provide research help to business students in the Ted Rogers School of Management and fashion students from the School of Fashion.
Lei Jin, Collection Services, Acting Head
Lei Jin has been closely involved and has contributed to the Library's fast-growing electronic resource collections. She provided leadership in licensing, delivering, maintaining and assessing the Library's collection, and also initiated, supervised and successfully implemented some major strategic library projects. As the Acting Head of Collection Services Department, Lei initiated and implemented changes in financial procedures, system maintenance workflow, and human resource management, all leading to improved efficiencies. Additionally, Lei actively engaged in various library conferences and served on various committees.
Dana Thomas, Collection Services, Digital Support
In the five years since joining Ryerson, Dana Thomas has exemplified a dedication to professional work and a commitment to excellence. During her time at Ryerson, she has become an expert in electronic resource management, and has paired her technical acumen with a talent for teaching and communicating ideas with students and peers. Dana's scholarly and professional contributions to librarianship have earned her a respected reputation across the province.
Counsellor Award
Rosemarie Volpe, Centre for Student Development and Counselling
For over 32 years, Rosemarie Volpe has provided exemplary service to Ryerson students; through her career and personal counselling, academic advising, advocacy and passion for the welfare of her clients. Ryerson Safe House was an initiative that developed out of Rosemarie's commitment to the wellbeing of students. In collaboration with a faculty member from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rosemarie developed and implemented a weeklong summer camp for high school girls to become exposed to engineering as a non-traditional career option. This highly successful initiative, 'Discover Engineering', ran for over 15 years. Throughout her career, she has been a strong advocate of women's issues; she served on the working group for Harassment Policy and Complaints Procedures, and acted as the Sexual Harassment Complaints Mediator for almost a decade.