And the Winners of TAC 2023–2024 Are…

This past month, the MSU had the honour of acknowledging McMaster’s outstanding teaching staff and their efforts throughout the 2023–2024 academic year. If you were unable to attend, or tune in to catch this year’s (brand new) live stream of the awards, we have compiled this year’s winners below!

Student-Nominated Awards:

You would have seen advertisements around campus, on social media and Avenue to Learn to encourage you to nominate your professors and TAs for the semesters. This is the culmination of those efforts, with our TAC committee having been tirelessly tallying up results over the past year for the top nominated professors per faculty, and the “student-favourite” TA (Teaching Assistant Merit Award)

Faculty of Science- Dr. Anthony Chibba (CHEM 1A03, CHEM 1AA3, CHEMBIO 2L03, CHEM 2OA3, CHEMBIO 3OA3, CHEMBIO 3L03)

Faculty of Kinesiology — Dr. Krista Madsen Baker (KINESIOL 4W03, KINESIOL 2E03, KINESIOL 3K03, KINESIOL 2A03, KINESIOL 4J03, KINESIOL 4KK3)

Degroote School of Business — Dr. Nick Bontis (COMMERCE 4PA3)

Faculty of Engineering — Dr. Adriaan Buijs (ENGPHYS 4PP3, ENGPHYS 3W03)

Faculty of Humanities — Dr. Sheena Jary (INSPIRE 3WW3)

Faculty of Health Sciences — Stephanie George (HTHSCI 3AH3)

Faculty of Social Sciences — Dr. Cal Biruk (ANTHROP 4LL3, ANTHROP 2HI3)

Faculty of Nursing — Amy Palma (NURSING 1F03, NURSING 1I02, NURSING 1RP0, NURSING 1K02, NURSING 1G03, NURSING 1J02)

Arts and Science Program — Dr. Elizabeth Marquis (ARTSSCI 4MN1, ARTSSCI 3B03, ARTSSCI 1C06B)

Teaching Assistant Merit Award — Kyle Sung

Teaching Awards by Application:

These awards are evaluated based on supporting letters from leaders of the applicant’s faculty or program, letters of reference from students or community members, and the applicant’s CV.

Teaching Assistant of the Year Award: Difei (Fay) Zheng

MSU Award of Distinction: Dr. Tom Wanyama (Faculty of Engineering)

• Description: All teaching faculty are eligible, and evaluated based on their commitment to McMaster’s Principles of Community Engagement, their impact on student life, and their overwhelming dedication to furthering learning and teaching excellence at McMaster. Selected by the MSU Board of Directors.

Pedagogical Innovation Award: Dr. Rashid Abu-Ghazalah (Faculty of Engineering)

• Description: An instructor that has exhibited innovation in their teaching with applications to the broader community. Evaluation based on the integration of current pedagogical strategies, commitment to enhancing student engagement, and collaboration to support improvements in learning and teaching within as well as beyond the McMaster campus

Teaching Merit Award: Dr. Claire Tuckey (Faculty of Kinesiology)

• Description: presented to a new professor who has shown dedication, passion and made an impact with their teaching during their first two years of teaching at McMaster.

Community Engagement Award: Dr. Marjan Alavi (Faculty of Engineering)

• Description: Presented to instructors or a group of instructors who have demonstrated exceptional community engagement and inclusivity

We congratulate the award recipients, and thank them for the tremendous work they do in making McMaster a brighter place!