Teaching awards highlight Alumni Week, Feb. 2-8

Alumni Week—honouring the social, economic and artistic impact of UVic graduates—runs from Feb. 2–8 with more than a dozen special events on campus and at alumni branches across Canada and in Asia.

A lunchtime gathering of alumni who work at UVic kicks off the week’s events on campus on Feb. 3; the Distinguished Alumni Awards on Feb. 5 will honour 12 outstanding graduates; and the Teaching Awards Celebration on Feb. 6 will spotlight the 2014 recipients of the Alumni Awards for Excellence in Teaching and the Andy Farquharson Awards for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching.

The alumni teaching awards, in two categories, will be presented to three recipients.

Dr. Mark Colgate (Gustavson School of Business) and Professor Jin-Sun Yoon (child and youth care) receive the Harry Hickman teaching award for regular faculty members (including senior instructors), artists-in-residence and librarians.

Dr. Kristin Semmens (history) will receive the Gilian Sherwin teaching award for sessional lecturers, lab instructors and senior lab instructors.

The selection committee, chaired by Vice-President Academic and Provost Reeta Tremblay, evaluates nominees based on evidence of outstanding teaching methods and educational leadership. The committee considers the nominee’s performance in such areas as course design, innovation and mentorship of students.

Recipients get a cash prize of $2,000 and their photos will be permanently displayed in the McPherson Library. There have now been 51 recipients since the alumni association introduced the first campus-wide teaching award program in 1989.

Graduate students Jason Siefken (mathematics and statistics), Jamie Kemp (history in art) and Michael Lukas (English) will receive the Farquharson award, organized by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the Learning and Teaching Centre.

The Distinguished Alumni Awards presentation, at the Hotel Grand Pacific, will feature award recipients selected by faculties, divisions and the library. This year’s honorees are:

Eric Akis (journalist, author and chef); Roderick Allen (assistant deputy minister of education); Brian Butler (CEO, Butler Brothers Supplies); Marilyn Copes (executive director, Island Health); Mary Mouat (lawyer/community builder); David Naysmith (medical humanitarian); Qimin You (CEO, Ustar Biotechnologies Hangzhou); Chris Reid (executive chair, Hydrexia); Jan Ross (curator/community activist); Michael J. Whitfield (stage lighting designer); Evan Wood (investigator, intravenous drug use prevention/treatment); and Jennifer Zelmer (executive VP, Canada Health Infoway).

Alumni Week is supported by the UVic Alumni Association and organized by the Alumni Relations office. Full event list and grand prize draw information: alumni.uvic.ca