Governor General Gold Medal
The Governor General Gold Medal (GGGM), TorontoMet's most prestigious academic award, is awarded annually to the graduate student who achieves the highest academic standing in a graduate degree program.
This award has no nominal value. The award will be given once per year at the fall convocation, and all graduates from the previous spring convocation will be considered.
September 4, 2024
All master’s and doctoral program students, who are in their first Master’s or Doctoral program respectively, are eligible for this award. The student must have completed his/her program within the normal time frame (as deemed by the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies).
Candidates must be nominated by their program.
A call for nominations will be sent to programs in late July. One student may be nominated from each Graduate Program, i.e. if a program has a master's and a doctoral program – only one nomination can be submitted in total. The Program Director or designate will submit the nomination to YSGPS.
Nominees for the Governor General Gold Medal are expected to uphold a high academic standard, with a minimum overall average of 3.67. Furthermore, their scholarly and research contributions play a crucial role in the selection process. These contributions, which could encompass publications, presentations, creative work, thesis quality, and feedback from external examiners, are assessed through the covering letter, the Supervisory Committee's recommendation, and the candidate's CV. Additionally, candidates' involvement in the academic community is taken into account, especially in the event of a tie. This involvement can be demonstrated through activities such as representing TMU at professional meetings or serving on university councils or committees, as indicated in their CV.
Please direct inquiries to Natasha Mills at natasha.mills@torontomu.ca
Award Recipients
2022-23
Molecular Science PhD, Faculty of Science
Computer Science, PhD, Faculty of Science
2021-22
Psychology PhD, Faculty of Arts
Electrical and Computer Engineering PhD, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2019-20
Biomedical Engineering PhD, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering PhD, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2018-19
Molecular Science PhD, Faculty of Science
Psychology PhD, Faculty of Arts
2017-18
Dr. Skyler Fitzpatrick, Psychology PhD
Dr. Vaskar Gnyawali, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering PhD
2013-14
Eric Strohm, Biomedical Physics PhD, Faculty of Science
The first PhD graduate of the Faculty of Science, Eric’s thesis research produced five first-authored papers in prestigious journals, one book chapter and a provisional U.S. patent application. He served on the Research and Graduate Affairs Committee when it was undertaking the program’s launch, and has also been a reviewer for numerous scientific journals.
Rachel Strimas, Psychology PhD, Faculty of Arts
Rachel was awarded the highest honour for academic achievement for her 4.17 GPA, 36 published articles and conference presentations and over $137,000 in scholarship funding. She also received a Canadian Psychological Association Award of Excellence for both her master’s thesis and PhD dissertation.