2016-17 TMU Gold Medal Recipients
The Toronto Metropolitan University Gold Medal is the University's highest honour, awarded to students with outstanding academic achievement combined with outstanding involvement with the University, their profession, and/or the community.
Faculty of Arts
Madelaine Ley, Philosophy MA
During her degree, Ley maintained a high GPA while earning a SSHRC scholarship, serving as interim director of Boarding Homes Ministry, co-founding a chapter of Minorities and Philosophy, attending conferences and participating in internationally renowned programs such as Yale University’s Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics.
Faculty of Communication & Design
Eliot Wright, Documentary Media MFA
In addition to achieving the highest GPA in his graduating class, Wright served as co-chair of the annual DocNow film festival, mentored fourth-year photography students and curated the annual Chang School Photography Exhibition. Based on his work, the City of Toronto Archives invited Wright to curate an exhibition of early 20thcentury and contemporary images of Dupont Street to illustrate its historical complexity.
Faculty of Community Services
Nicole Ineese-Nash, Early Childhood Studies MA
Ineese-Nash excelled as a research assistant, published in scholarly journals, presented at academic conferences, served as president of the ECS Graduate Course Union and volunteered in the community. An Oji-Cree woman and band member of Constance Lake First Nation, Ineese-Nash shared her experiences as an Indigenous woman with the TMU community so others could learn from her story. For her outstanding achievements, Ineese-Nash also received a Board of Governors Leadership Award and Medal.
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
Afshin Rahimi, Aerospace Engineering PhD
Rahimi received a Vanier Scholarship, a Mitacs Accelerate Award and a TMU Student Centre Community Builder Award. In addition, Rahimi received the C. Ravi Ravindran Outstanding Thesis Award for his doctoral research, which focused on developing innovative fault diagnosis and prognosis for satellite actuators. He is currently employed as a data scientist at Pratt & Whitney Canada, where he is helping improve the reliability of aircraft engines.
Faculty of Science
Tracey Lackraj, Molecular Science PhD
As a result of her research on preventing E. coli outbreaks, Lackraj published three journal articles and conducted 26 conference presentations. While at TMU, she was highly involved in the Graduate Student Association, the Graduate Program Council, the Departmental Symposium Planning Committee and Women in Science at TMU.
Interdisciplinary programs
Nelson Kimron Corion, Digital Media MDM
Corion was named among the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States’ 30 Under 30 entrepreneurs. Corion is the co-founder of I Am Grenadian, an online community for Grenada and its diaspora, developed in TMU’s Transmedia Zone. An advocate for entrepreneurship, he encourages young people to create their own opportunities.
Ted Rogers School of Management
Krysten Connely, MBA
Connely served as vice-president of communications for the MBA Students’ Association, volleyball team captain for the MBA Games and vice-president of funding for TMU’s Women in Leadership Association. Connely was also a successful participant in extracurricular case competitions at the national and international levels.