YSGPS Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Awards Recipients

2025 recipients

Stephanie Cassin

Faculty of Arts

Dr. Cassin's commitment to serving graduate students in Psychology has been exceptional. Already an award winning teacher and a highly productive researcher she also shows extraordinary devotion to the success of our graduate program and in mentoring the next generation of psychologists in her current role as Director of Clinical Training. She is a champion for graduate student mental health and wellbeing and an advocate for inclusivity and accessibility. Students recognize her as a caring and knowledgeable mentor who provides emotional support in concert with career advice.

Stefania Impellizzeri

Faculty of Science

Dr. Stefania Impellizzeri is a highly deserving recipient of the TMU YSGPS Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Award. Her exceptional commitment to mentoring, inclusive research environments, and student success has significantly impacted the professional and academic trajectories of her students and others. Dr. Impellizzeri's innovative research on Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence has led to numerous student co-authored publications and award-winning presentations. As a strong advocate for equity in education, she fosters a diverse and supportive lab culture. Her leadership extends to securing industry partnerships, further enriching her students' experience through meaningful, real-world projects, preparing them for successful careers beyond graduate studies.

Kelly McShane

Ted Rogers School of Management

Kelly McShane, PhD, CPsych, has made outstanding contributions to graduate education through dedicated mentorship, innovative teaching, and student-centered scholarship. A foundational member of the MHACC program at TRSM and long-serving Psychology Faculty member in the Faculty of Arts, Dr. McShane has supervised numerous graduate students, guiding them in research, scholarship, and professional growth. Her pioneering work in realist evaluation and community-led research has empowered students globally. Renowned for creating inclusive, student-centered learning environments, Dr. McShane's commitment and dedication to student success through mentorship and experiential learning exemplifies excellence in education, making her a highly deserving recipient of this award.

Mehrab Mehrvar

Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Dr. Mehrab Mehrvar has had tremendously positive impact on graduate education through training/mentoring graduate students in research and teaching. While helping them in professional life, well-trained graduate students are the centre of his research activities. He has created an effective training environment that fosters students' excitement and commitment in research and provides increased research self-efficacy. He encourages growth and learning where students enjoy their research by thinking, interacting and analyzing their findings. He mentors them to think beyond problems, critical outcomes and hypothesis, and how they could be implemented. He cultivates their curiosity about critical points in their research outcomes.

Josephine Wong

Faculty of Community Services

Dr. Josephine Pui-Hing Wong exemplifies the values embedded in the YSGPS Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Award. She has demonstrated joyful enthusiasm, strong commitment, and creative strategies in: mentoring graduate students and postdocs in rigorous collaborative community-centred research practices; integrating principles of social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion; cultivating mutually supportive consensus-based teams whose members partake equally at every stage of the research process; encouraging the development of soft and technical skills towards gainful employment; ensuring that graduate students and postdocs have the requisite financial and supervisory support; and guiding all mentees in relevant literatures, theories, methodologies, and community engagement.

Hossein Zolfagharinia

Ted Rogers School of Management

Dr. Hossein Zolfagharinia has made outstanding contributions to graduate education at Toronto Metropolitan University, particularly within the PhD in Management, Master of Science in Management (MScM), and Industrial Engineering programs. He has contributed to the training of 27 students, resulting in 24 journal publications, 18 of which appeared in A and A* journals according to the ABDC ranking list, along with numerous awards, including best thesis awards and provincial and federal scholarships. His commitment to teaching, career support, and professional development has enabled his students to secure competitive funding and prestigious positions in academia and industry, exemplifying excellence in education.

Past recipients