External Awards
First established in 1883 to promote research and learning in the sciences, arts and humanities, the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) recognizes the country’s leading scientists, artists and scholars. This year, one Ryerson researcher was conferred the lifelong honour of fellowship in this prestigious academy.
The RSC also recognizes Canada’s next generation of exceptional scholars through its College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Two Ryerson scholars were made Members after a competitive, peer-reviewed process that includes assessing the long-term influence of their research.
Bin Wu (Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering) was elected Fellow of the RSC’s Academy of Science in recognition of his research leadership in the area of power electronics, motor drives and renewable energies. Now a professor emeritus, his distinguished scholarship includes publishing close to 400 research papers in the world’s top peer-reviewed journals, and holding more than 30 issued or pending patents and technological inventions that have been adopted by the automotive, aerospace and energy sectors, among others.
Catherine Beauchemin (Physics) was named to the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists for her interdisciplinary approach to understanding virus infection dynamics. As the founder of the field of virophysics, which uses the tools and methods of physics to understand how viruses spread, she has received international renown for her innovative methodology.
Anatoliy Gruzd (Business Management) was made a College Member for his achievement in social media research, including establishing the first social media research laboratory in North America. His work in the emerging fields of social media use, data collection, influence, security and ethics have made him a leading researcher both in Canada and abroad.
Other External Awards
Kamal Al-Solaylee (Journalism) won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for his book, Brown: What being brown in the world today means (to everyone). At $25,000, the prize is one of Canada’s largest awarded in the category of literary non-fiction.
Patrizia Albanese (Sociology) was acclaimed as President-Elect of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. The Federation includes a diverse community of 91,000 researchers and graduate students in over 160 universities, colleges and scholarly institutions across Canada.
Daolun Chen (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering) and Khaled Sennah (Civil Engineering) were both appointed Fellows by the Canadian Academy of Engineering in recognition of their service and accomplishments in the engineering profession.
Cathy Crowe (Politics and Public Administration), Ryerson Distinguished Visiting Practitioner and a street nurse in Toronto, was named to the Order of Canada for her service to Canada’s vulnerable and marginalized communities.
Kosta Derpanis (Computer Science) was appointed a Faculty Affiliate to the Vector Institute’s 2018 cohort. The Institute is globally recognized in the area of artificial intelligence research.
Liping Fang (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering) and Jelena Misic (Computer Science) were both named Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the most esteemed honour that can be bestowed by the IEEE’s 400,000 members in 160 countries.
Frances Gunn and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee (Retail Management) were two of four co-authors of a Best Paper Award-winning article in European Association for Education and Research in Commercial Distribution.
Esther Ignagni (Disability Arts) received the Tanis Doe Award for Canadian Disability Study and Culture, provided by the Canadian Disability Studies Association in recognition for her scholarship and community advocacy.
Pamela Palmater (Politics and Public Administration) was presented with the Atlantic Human Rights Centre’s inaugural Award for Excellence in Human Rights at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Brett Story (Image Arts) was made a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, which since 1925 has granted over US $360 million to more than 18,000 illustrious artists, writers, scientists and scholars. Story received her fellowship in the Creative Arts, Film-Video category.
Fiona Yeudall (Nutrition) was presented with a Leadership Award by the Dieticians of Canada for her work championing sustainable food systems.