The academic achievements of some of York University’s best and brightest students were celebrated at the annual Circle of Scholars reception. York President & Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri joined Vice-President Academic & Provost Patrick Monahan and Vice-President Students Rob Tiffin to congratulate some 400 undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom attended the reception to receive their awards in person.
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| Above: From left, Sandy Tieman, senior development officer, Division of Advancement at York University; Morley Brown (BA ’75), Brosko Property Management Limited; and FES Dean Barbara Rahder |
“The reputation of an academic institution depends not only on the quality of its faculty and staff, but also on the level of excellence of its students,” said Shoukri. “York is very fortunate to have so many outstanding students who have achieved a high level of academic success, and who really are the pride of the University.”
Shoukri told the students of the many successful York alumni that he has met in his travels all over the world, “succeeding in every conceivable field,” and advised them not to underestimate their potential to reach similar heights. “You have the educational background and the opportunity at this University to develop as a person. Don’t ever doubt that the future has great things in store for you.”
This was not an expression of singular optimism, he explained, but a conviction shared by faculty, staff and the many friends of the University who have generously donated funds to create scholarships.
The keynote address was delivered by York alumna Francesca Accinelli (BA ’92). As the daughter of 
the late Nancy Accinelli, co-president of the York University Retirees Association, Accinelli recalled being exposed to York from an early age, working in various temp jobs on campus as a teenager.
Right: Guest speaker Francesca Accinelli, director of television – English market for Telefilm Canada
Later, as a student, she became an active member of the University community. Her myriad of experiences on campus, including participation in Vanier College productions and co-founding the Council of Arts Students Association, were crucial to her personal and career development, she said.
“Every moment is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself,” said Accinelli, currently a director of television – English market for Telefilm Canada.
“I promise you will have that same watershed moment,” she said. “Everything will click and all those weird skills and ancillary things you picked up along the way will begin to make sense. When that watershed moment happened to me, I remembered York. I did what I did because I loved it and I’m sure that’s the same for you.”
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| Above: Schulich School of Business Dean Deszö Horvath chats with Michael Sasarman (EMBA ‘05), director of strategic partnering and sourcing, Ericsson Communications Canada and a donor |
Those honoured at the April 4 reception include:
Chancellor Bennett Doctoral Scholarship for the Liberal Arts
- Erin Dolmage
- Maria Farinha
EMBA Non-profit Scholarship
- John Harlow
Robert Krembil Scholarship of Merit
- Robert Edey
- Elena Nesterova
Seymour Schulich MBA Entrance Scholarship
- Laura Davis
Susan Mann Dissertation Scholarship
- Laura Ball
The Avie Bennett Historica Dissertation Scholarship in Canadian History
- Jason Young
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
- Lisa Romano-Dwyer
Undergraduate Scholarships
Canadian Merit Foundation Scholarship
- Nazampal Jaswal
Chancellor Bennett Entrance Awards for the Westview Partnership
- Sanna Anwar
- Mursal Hafizi
- Saadia Malik
- Alyssa Strassler
Chancellor Bennett Undergraduate Scholarship for Liberal Arts
- Natalya Soloveychik
- Ariel Vedel
Dean’s Entrance Award
- Yao Assamoi
- Golnar Malek-Saniee
Dr. James Wu Research Internships for Science & Engineering
- Yuri Filiptsev
Global Leader of Tomorrow Award for International Students
- Jaehwan Kim
Governors’ Award of Distinction
- Joshua Duncan (Proctor)
- Milena Mednikov (Murray Ross)
Harley D. Hallet Renewable Entrance Scholarship
- Peter Martorelli
International Circle of Scholars Scholarship
- Grace Mpembeni
International Entrance Scholarship of Distinction
- Juan Alberto Nieto Andino
NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award
- Dana Aljawhary
- Yeong Noh
- Fatima Panju
- Aamna Qamaruzzaman
- Andrei-Alexandru Szigiato
- Rebecca Zendel
Tanna H. Schulich BBA/iBBA Entrance Scholarship
- Dimple Dalal
- Soobia Haider
The William & Nona Heaslip Scholarship
- Gillian Eguaras
University Scholarship in Translation
- Davida Fahie
- Durr-E-Ajam (Humda) Tahir
York University President’s Scholarship
- Minhoi Cho
- Dimple Dalal
- Elizabeth Fung
- Sarah Jansen
- Matthew Lau
- Saalih Shamead
- Corey Stanton
- Zhe Sun
- Andrei-Alexandru Szigiato
- Jaclyn Volkhammer
York University United World College Scholarship
- Delisile Dlamini