Gold Medal winners celebrate academic and personal success at fall convocation
Toronto Metropolitan University President Mohamed Lachemi presents PhD graduate Amber Grant with the Gold Medal Award at convocation. The Gold Medal is TMU’s highest honour. Photos by Harry Choi.
As graduates crossed the stage at convocation in the fall, outstanding students were presented with special awards.
Toronto Metropolitan University’s highest honour is the Gold Medal Award, which is presented to one graduating student from each faculty. The award recognizes a student’s outstanding academic achievement and their involvement at TMU, in their professions and in their communities.
The recipients of the Gold Medal Award this fall are Meredith Graham, Amber Grant, Javeriya Hasan, Reeda Mahmood, Vincent Santiago, Anushay Sheikh and Charlie Wall-Andrews. Learn more about their achievements and their research below.
This semester, two TMU students received the Governor General’s Academic Gold Medal, which is awarded to graduate-level students graduating with the highest average. The recipients are Bernoulli Andilab, from mechanical and industrial engineering, and Amber Grant, from the interdisciplinary environmental applied science and management. Grant also received the Board of Governors Leadership Award, one of the most prestigious university-wide awards.
The final award given at convocation this semester was the C. Ravi Ravindran Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award. Faculty of Arts graduate Parky Lau received the award for his dissertation investigating how sleep medicine knowledge can be mobilized for teens with sleep problems.
Gold Medal Award Winners
Graduate Meredith Graham (right) overcame many challenges to earn her master’s degree. She plans to use her education to improve the lives of others with similar experiences.
While growing up, Meredith Graham experienced poverty, living in government care, homelessness and mental illness. Despite these challenges, she earned a bachelor's, started a business and became a youth advisor with the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
She has also won awards for her resilience and academic achievements, including the Dean’s Graduate Essay Writing Award for her thesis Spoken Word Poetry with Indigenous Queer Youth to (Re)Claim Identity.
Inspired to help others and create change, Graham’s future includes creating an arts therapy studio and pursuing a PhD.
“This award holds a powerful responsibility and opportunity to continue the work and to dream further beyond what I think is possible,” said Graham about the Gold Medal. “It’s less for me, and more for every person who exists in similar life intersections as me journeying through government care and multiple adversities with mental illness. We can, and do, accomplish incredible things!”
Graduate Amber Grant (centre) accomplished a wide range of personal and academic achievements during their PhD studies at TMU. They include earning the Board of Governors Leadership Award, presented here by President Lachemi (left) and Board of Governors student representative Ahmed Elshahed (right).
Amber Grant has gone from being a university dropout to a highly accomplished PhD graduate.
The first-generation student created numerous workshops for the Student Life and Learning Office and the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), took on leadership roles on several committees in the EnSciMan program, and advocated for social and environmental justice through volunteer work at TMU and in the broader community.
Their PhD research explored how environmental justice goals are prioritized and neglected in urban forest planning and practice in the U.S., as well as the socio-political and institutional conditions that influence community-based urban forest stewardship.
“I plan to continue working at the intersection of urban nature and environmental justice, hopefully in both academic and applied settings,” said Grant who is currently a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of British Columbia. “I would love to continue doing research and to continue teaching, but I would also love to engage in policy work that brings environmental justice-focused solutions to cities.”
Graduate Javeriya Hasan’s (centre) time at TMU is marked with dedication to the university’s student communities, including mentoring peers, organizing events and guest lecturing. She is pictured here with President Lachemi (left) and Chancellor Donette Chin-Loy Chang (right).
Javeriya Hasan is an exemplary student, an accomplished researcher and great mentor to her peers and future students.
While pursuing her PhD, she achieved a perfect GPA, published six research papers as the first author and never missed a chance to guest lecture. As co-chair of the TMU chapter of the Sustainable Buildings Network, Hasan helped organize speaker events for the student community.
Passionate about raising awareness for the importance of building science in the face of climate change, Hasan is dedicated to inspiring future students to be involved in the field. She is also helping to advance her field by working with organizations like the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants and Women in Engineering.
“As a woman in a STEM discipline, I believe [the Gold Medal] reflects my dedication to the field and demonstrates what women can achieve. It also underscores the importance of community involvement and commitment to academic objectives, whilst also highlighting the crucial role of perseverance in achieving any goal in life,” said Hasan.
Graduate Reeda Mahmood (centre) is combining her education, her passion for research and her entrepreneurial spirit to help solve global problems.
Reeda Mahmood’s journey to earning her PhD was marked with perseverance and self-discovery.
As an undergraduate student, Mahmood struggled with some of her classes and didn’t feel confident enough to pursue graduate studies. But she discovered her passion for research while working as a program coordinator at TMU’s Science Discovery Zone.
As a graduate student, she took time to understand how she learned best, sharing her study and motivation tips on social media and in workshops. Her academic and research success culminated in her thesis on novel innovative nanomaterials, which has been praised for being a valuable framework for future students in the field.
“I am excited to continue my journey as a scientist leading with an entrepreneurial and creative spirit,” said Mahmood. “Completing my PhD at TMU has allowed me to build myself as a scientist and researcher, but also an entrepreneur. I am eager to continue to build on and use these skills to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.”
Graduate Vincent Santiago (right) helped paved the way for a more diverse student body in the psychology department at TMU. His efforts are contributing to more culturally informed psychological services.
Vincent Santiago has an unwavering commitment to inclusivity, access and care. During his time at TMU, his efforts have benefitted current and prospective students as well as the communities they will support after graduation.
Santiago co-organized the Diversifying Psychology Recruitment Event, which provides insight to prospective students. The now annual event aims to recruit students from underrepresented groups into the field of psychology to ensure Canadians have access to culturally informed services.
For his dissertation, Santiago investigated interventions for food addiction. He developed an innovative treatment for people addicted to hyper-palatable processed foods, ultimately providing free, accessible and effective treatment to a diverse sample of community participants.
“I’m learning that success is multifaceted, said Santiago, who is working toward registering as a clinical psychologist. “It’s awards, it’s contributing something new to science, it’s helping clients improve their lives, it’s fostering community, it’s building meaningful connections and it’s self-respect.”
Graduate Anushay Sheikh (right) uses artistic creativity and advocacy to foster important dialogues. One example is their MFA project, exhibited at the Image Centre, which explored Queer Muslim individuals and mental health.
Anushay Sheikh is a leader who amplifies marginalized voices and fosters important dialogues on queerness and Islam through creativity and advocacy.
Their powerful MFA project, The Test, explores the mental health experiences of eight Queer Muslim individuals. Rooted in the Sheikh's own experiences, the participatory and autoethnographic project serves as an act of (re)connection, healing, and reclamation. The Test was supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
“In 2021, I made the difficult decision to leave law school to pursue a creative career,” said Sheikh. “During this transition, I felt deeply inspired by the potential of documentary media and the power it gives QTBIPOC individuals and communities to (re)claim their own stories. Being awarded the Gold Medal is an honour that affirms the importance of creating authentic, vulnerable work within a strong ethical framework.”
Sheikh also served as a student team member on TMU’s Dimensions Pilot Program, which aimed to increase equity, diversity and inclusion in scholarly, research and creative (SRC) activities at the university. They were also co-chair of the 2024 Doc Now Festival and a two-year representative on the Doc Media Student Council, showing exceptional leadership, dedication and an unwavering commitment to social justice.
Charlie Wall-Andrews is both a TMU graduate and a faculty member. She’s using her PhD in management to support diverse artists and teach students about the creative process.
Charlie Wall-Andrews has been described as a luminary and pioneer. Both are accurate descriptors.
She’s the first graduate of TMU’s PhD in management program, was named as one of Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women, served on the jury for the JUNOs and is vice-chair for Music Canada's advisory council.
During her PhD, she researched entrepreneurial ecosystems, identity and trajectories with an equity-sensitive perspective in the Canadian music industry. Challenging the status quo and supporting artists is something she plans to keep doing in the future.
“Professionally, my future plans focus on continuing to advance my work in the creative industries, particularly in the music sector, by fostering innovation, equity and entrepreneurship,” said Wall-Andrews. “I aim to expand my research on diversity and inclusion within entrepreneurial ecosystems while supporting artists and industry professionals through impactful programs.