Dean Woodin highlights accomplishments of the A&S community at last Faculty Council meeting of 2020

December 21, 2020 by A&S News

As 2020 comes to an end, we take a look back at the year to recognize the contributions of our students, faculty, staff and alumni. Read below Dean Melanie Woodin’s recent remarks at the December 9 Faculty Council meeting, where she highlights some of the successes of our community in 2020. And you can watch Dean Woodin's holiday message to the A&S community.


Dear A&S students, staff and faculty,

This is our last Faculty Council meeting of 2020, and I’m sure many of you are thinking that the end of 2020 can’t come soon enough.

2020 has been a challenging year, not only for our community, but also globally. While there have been challenges and hardships, there has also been much to celebrate. So please indulge me for a moment as we look back and highlight some special moments for our Faculty this year.

January

In January, researchers from the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, together with international colleagues, tracked repeating fast radio bursts to a nearby galaxy. At half a billion light years from Earth, the source of these bursts was around seven times closer than the only other repeating burst to have been localized. If that’s not out of this world, I don’t know what is!

A picture of chime, a magnificent mental structure under a bright night sky.
Photo: Andre Recnik/CHIME.

February

In February, we recognized Black History Month with numerous A&S events, including those led by: the Cinema Studies Student Union who hosted a screening of Malcolm X; the Caribbean Studies Program and the Centre for Comparative Literature, who presented a lecture series on Critical Perspectives on Caribbean Studies; and the Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies who hosted a colloquium that addressed multiculturalism and interculturalism from a Canadian perspective. These events were free and open to the public enjoy, and I want to thank all those involved in delivering these thoughtful and inclusive events.

Photo of Myriam Chancy, Silvio Torres-Saillant and Ramón (Arturo) Victoriano-Martinez

March

And then March came — and as the proverb says: “In like a lion, out like a lamb” — except in this case, COVID came into Toronto like a lion, but decided to stick around beyond the end of March. 

While COVID turned our world upside down, we didn’t miss a beat as we transitioned online — well, maybe we lost a couple of beats, but we got back on track quickly! 

And while much of that month was consumed by pandemic operations, the business of the Faculty continued, including the School of the Environment announcing the launch of its first standalone graduate degree — a Master of Environment & Sustainability. This program will give students from a variety of academic backgrounds a broad overview of interactions between humans and their environment, particularly relevant at a time when questions about the sustainability of human activity in the world are becoming more urgent by the day.

Three people standing beside a rooftop garden on a sunny day.
Photo: Geoffrey Vendeville.

April

As we all started to regain our bearings in April, our students led the way with insightful and thoughtful ways to maintain our mental health and well-being. Patricia Huang brought a little bit of cheer to the U of T community with her ‘True Blue: Book of Things to Do’ which was a pay-what-you-want digital download with all proceeds going to Sunnybrook Hospital. The homemade booklet had games and activities themed around the University of Toronto that included a word search, writing activity, maze, colouring page and even a paper craft with a special nod to Sidney Smith Hall. 

Colouring page featuring True Blue from the True Blue: Book of Things to Do
Image courtesy of Patricia Huang.

May

In May, geochemist Barbara Sherwood Lollar received this year's Killam Prize in Natural Sciences from the Canada Council for the Arts. Professor Sherwood Lollar is a University Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and she was recognized for her pioneering work in energy sources, water and microbial life deep beneath the Earth’s surface — including the discovery of billion-year-old groundwater within the Canadian Precambrian Shield. Later this year, she was also awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Willet G. Miller Medal.

A head shot of Barbara Sherwood Lollar.

June

And in June, we celebrated a virtual convocation and recognized the perseverance of all A&S students who were graduating in a historic pandemic. I was inspired by the incredible achievements of all of our students, including Lana El Sanyoura who earned a bachelor of science degree with a specialization in computer science and a major in cognitive science. She’s won several awards for academic achievement, leadership and extracurricular involvement, including the John H. Moss Scholarship and the Vector Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence. 

In recognition of her accomplishments, Lana was invited by our Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, to address her fellow graduates across the country with remarks during his convocation address.

On very short notice, she hopped into a car shortly after 8 pm and — with her mom at the wheel — pulled out her laptop to draft her remarks. She watched Michelle Obama’s 2020 commencement speech for inspiration and FaceTimed her dad in Lebanon for feedback.

Lana El Sanyoura standing at a podium.
Photo: Adam Scotti.

July

In July, we received the wonderful news that several A&S graduate students and postdoctoral fellows were named Banting Fellows and Vanier Scholars.

Awarded jointly by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), these awards enable promising researchers to further develop research excellence and build global links under the mentorship of research leaders. 

The 2020 Banting Fellows included: 

  • Gabriel dos Passos Gomes, Chemistry and Computer Science (NSERC) 
  • John Mackereth, Astronomy & Astrophysics (NSERC) 
  • Joshua Speagle, Astronomy & Astrophysics and Statistical Sciences (NSERC) 
  • Katja Kasimatis, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (NSERC) 

The 2020 Vanier Scholars included: 

  • Danijar Hafner, Computer Science (NSERC) 
  • Clovis Hamel Ascanio, Mathematics (NSERC) 
  • Fernando Avila, Criminology & Sociolegal Studies (SSHRC) 
  • Gwen Benaway, Women & Gender Studies Institute (SSHRC) 
  • Eduardo Gutierrez Cornelius, Sociology (SSHRC) 
  • Gregory Horne, Philosophy (SSHRC) 
  • Daniela Marcela Maldonado Castaneda, Spanish & Portuguese (SSHRC) 
  • Yojana Miraya Oscco, Political Science (SSHRC) 
A&S Awards & Honours logo - words wrapped in laurels

    August

    In August, University Professor Mark Lautens of the Department of Chemistry was recognized by the American Chemical Society with the Herbert C. Brown Award for Creative Research in Synthetic Methods.

    Lautens’s research group supports the development of new pharmaceuticals by inventing chemical reactions and strategies that have less impact on the environment. The group's goal is to mimic nature by combining multiple catalysts in a single reaction vessel, so that several chemical reactions occur in a carefully orchestrated sequence.

    Mark Lautens, a University Professor in U of T’s Department of Chemistry.
    Photo: Geoffrey Vendeville.

    September

    In September, we saw the launch of a new Islamic studies literary magazine that empowers students to share stories of what it means to be Muslim in Toronto
     
    Andrew Mackin and Professor Anver Emon created Islam in the City in hopes of helping Muslim students feel connected. 

    This new U of T literary magazine is empowering students to share their stories of what it means to be Muslim in Toronto — stories that include casual streetwear, evening shifts at local coffee shops and even Islam among the city’s bubble tea shops and sports bars.

    Mackin, the student lead on this project, earned his BA in history and religion in 2018 and is now a master’s student in contemporary Middle Eastern, Arabic & Islamic studies. 

    Andrew Mackin, left, and Anver Emon.
    Photo courtesy of Andrew Mackin.

    October

    In October, many of us were incredibly impressed when we attended the A&S undergraduate online research fair.

    Eighteen students in the Research Opportunities Program presented the research they conducted over the summer to over 180 attendees.
    I was fortunate to attend the event and spent the duration in total amazement at the quality and depth of research, and the presentation skills of these early researchers. I know that A&S students are incredibly talented, and this was just one reminder that the future is bright!

    images of all the students on a laptop screen
    Photo: Diana Tyszko.

    November

    In November, the Faculty was the recipient of two historic philanthropic gifts in support of our academic mission.

    One was a gift from Toronto native, Abel Tesfaye, the international, award-winning singer, songwriter and recording producer known as The Weeknd, in support of our Ethiopic program. Tessema Mulugeta, president of Bikila presented me with The Weeknd’s gift which is supporting the endowment for our course in Ge’ez, an ancient language in Ethiopia used primarily for liturgical Christian services. You may not know that our Ethiopic program is the only one of its kind in North America and among a handful in the world. 

    The other was a historic gift in which we received US$6 million to establish the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies. Dr. Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali founded the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute in 2000 to support the study of Persian civilization, from antiquity to today. 

    With this generous endowment, we launched the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies. The new institute will focus primarily on research and outreach by leveraging the strong educational programming already in place across the University of Toronto, fostering advanced research in a collaborative community, and promoting intercultural dialogue.

    Bikila Award president Tessema Mulugeta presents A&S dean Melanie Woodin standing outside with masks on holding a large cheque.
    Photo: Diana Tyszko.

     

    Elahe Omidyar Mir-Djalali.
    Photo: Gunner Omidyar.

    December

    When it comes to December, I’m going to cheat a little, and borrow another announcement from November, but I’m justifying this because we’re still celebrating!

    A&S’s own Jeffrey Fasegha and Ikran Jama received Rhodes Scholarships to study at the University of Oxford next year.

    Jeffrey graduated in June with a bachelor of commerce in finance from Rotman Commerce with minors in psychology and economics, and was a member of University College.

    Ikran, a member of Victoria College, is completing a double major in criminology and socio-legal studies and international relations with a minor in African studies.

    Headshots of Jama and Fasegha

    And with that, I bring our review of 2020 to a close, and look ahead to a new year, with optimism.

    I wish the entire A&S community a restful and peaceful holiday break, wherever you may be in the world. And please take care.

    Dean Woodin

    Melanie A. Woodin
    Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science
    Professor, Department of Cell & Systems Biology
    University of Toronto

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