Nominate your favourite prof or colleague for TVO’s Best Lecturer

Do you think York professors are the best in the province? Have you experienced a lecture by a York professor that was inspiring? If so, why not nominate that professor for TVO’s 2009 Best Lecturer Competition?

Created to celebrate the most engaging lecturers in Ontario, the 2009 Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition allows the campus communities at all the province’s colleges and universities to have their say. And if a York professor wins, not only will York own bragging rights for the year, but the University will also receive a $10,000 TD Insurance Meloche Monnex scholarship.  

From now until Sunday, Oct. 12, any York student, staff or faculty member can show some school spirit and nominate one, 10 or even 20 favourite lecturers. Time is short so it is important to get your favourite professor’s name in the running for the big competition. Last year, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology won the coveted title, Why couldn’t it be York this year?

It’s easy to nominate a professor – or to nominate several so as to up the ante for York. To sweeten the deal, TVO is entering each nominator into a contest to win one of two iPod Touch devices.

There are several ways that you can submit a nomination:

Send an e-mail to bl@tvo.org with the subject line "BL 2009 Nomination". Include in the body the full name of the professor, include the fact that the professor is at York University and be sure to give the name of the department where he or she teaches. Also include a short description (between 50 and 100 words) detailing the reason(s) a professor should be nominated as best lecturer. Be sure to include your full name, email, address and telephone number.

Or you can text the word "PROF" to 333111 on your mobile device to receive information on how to submit a nomination. After submitting the nomination form, a TVO producer may respond by e-mail for more details.

After the nominees are whittled down, a series of 10 finalists will deliver televised lectures and compete for viewer votes. In the 2007 competition, Prof. Alan Hutchinson of York’s Osgoode Hall Law School was among the finalists. In 2005, the finalists included York’s Rob Bowman, professor of ethnomusicology in the Department of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts, and Paul Delaney, professor of physics & astronomy in the Faculty of Science & Engineering.