Celebrate 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 at free event with York University’s Observatory team
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It was 50 years ago this July that the first man walked on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. Come celebrate that lunar achievement at a free event with York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory team in the Faculty of Science, from July 16 to 18.
There will be a screening of the film Apollo 11, lunar presentations and celestial viewing.
Be part of the excitement of the 50th anniversary of that successful Moon-landing mission where Neil Armstrong, followed by Buzz Aldrin, were the first to set foot on the lunar surface, while Michael Collins orbited the Moon.
It was during those first few steps that Armstrong uttered those now famous words, “That’s one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind.”
Multiple telescopes will be set up on top of the Arboretum Parking Garage at the William Small Centre for observing the Moon and other celestial objects each night from 9 p.m. to midnight.
The screening of Apollo 11 will take place nightly at 8 p.m. in Room 317 of the Petrie Science & Engineering Building, Keele Campus. Hourly presentations on Lunar Exploration will follow, starting at 9:30 p.m. each night.
Atrium (2nd floor) – Display cases: Toronto newspapers documenting the moon landing
Map library (1st floor, Scott Library) – astronomical maps, moon globe (map library hours 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
Steacie Library – maps, books, publications documenting the moon landing. There will also some videos of the moon landing playing on the LCD screen.
Six thesis and dissertation prize winners are breaking new ground
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Can we control mosquito populations and limit the spread of disease? What are strategies for empowering Indigenous populations to repossess/protect traditional territories? What are the limits of “empathy” in art? These are some of the big questions being asked by York’s researchers: six recent graduates of the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) have been named recipients of the FGS Thesis & Dissertation Prize.
Thomas Loebel
“From the politics of food security in India to a film about the refugee experience in Canada, these projects showcase the range of knowledge being created at York,” said Thomas Loebel, dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. “This research shows our graduates critically engaging with, and breaking new ground in, their academic disciplines. The result is work with real-world impact.”
The Thesis & Dissertation Prizes are distributed by FGS to celebrate exceptional master’s and PhD theses from the previous calendar year. Recipients will be invited to the FGS Scholars Reception in November, where their work will be showcased and recognized.
Master’s Prizes
Azizia Wahedi (MSc, Biology), “Characterization of the Adipokinetic Hormone/Corazonin-Related Peptide Signalling System in the Mosquito”
Azizia Wahedi’s thesis could lead to the development of a novel method for controlling mosquito populations and therefore limiting the spread of disease.
In her thesis research, Wahedi discovered the receptor of an important neuropeptide ACEP in a disease vector mosquito; characterized the expression of this receptor in the mosquito and correlated it with the expression of the ACP neuropeptide; and provided the first meaningful information for deducing a function for this neuropeptide signaling system (which regulates reproductive maturation in these animals).
Wahedi’s work required mastering challenging experimental procedures. Wahedi first cloned the putative receptor from the mosquito itself, then proved that the clone receptor was an ACP receptor. One of her chapters has already been published in the top-ranked scientific journal Nature Scientific Reports.
Daniel Debebe Negatu (MFA, Film), “Tesfaye/Hope”
Daniel Debebe Negatu’s thesis film is an experimental documentary, telling a first-hand story of migration to Canada by a refugee from Ethiopia. Told through the personal story of its central character, it chronicles his journey through Africa, including harrowing experiences as a stowaway, a narrow escape from drowning and the racism he faced in Canada.
The following is a YorkSpace description of the film: Shot in Ethiopia and Canada, the film recounts the journey of Tesfaye, who fled his country 19 years ago in search of a better life spending years as a refugee in Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland and South Africa. Caught between nostalgia for his home country and the opportunity of a better life in another one, this film explores Tesfaye’s struggles; in a constant state of transition, looking for a place he can call home.
Andrew Paul (MA, Geography), “‘With the Salween Peace Park, We Can Survive as a Nation’: Karen Environmental Relations and the Politics of an Indigenous Conservation Initiative”
Grounded in long-term engagement with Burma/Myanmar, Andrew Paul’s project seeks to advance the establishment of the Salween Peace Park (SPP) − an Indigenous Protected Area in post-conflict Karen State, Burma. Paul spent seven months based in Thailand, with extended trips into Karen State, which is accessible only by boat and day-long walk.
Paul’s research explored how the mobilization of Karen environmental relations can form the basis of governance in the SPP and interrogated the political strategies informing the creation of the protected area. Paul illustrated how Karen spiritual-environmental relations are central to their traditional governance system and documented for the first time the ways displacement and war have shaped this governance in the post-war state. He concluded that while conservation has long been rightly blamed for dispossessing Indigenous peoples of their traditional territories, the SPP is an example of how conservation, when led by Indigenous Peoples, can potentially enable the repossession or protection of traditional territories.
Dissertation Prizes
Anna Veprinska (PhD, English), “‘The Skin of Another’: Empathetic Dissonance in Twentieth and Twenty-First-Century Poetry after Crisis”
Studying poetry that emerged from three catastrophic events (the Holocaust, Hurricane Katrina and 9/11), Anna Veprinska’s dissertation navigates the amorphous new field of “affect” studies. She sought to reimagine the role of empathy in relation to cultural and historical trauma and offer a novel and ethical way of engaging with literary texts that respond to horrific real-life occurrences.
Veprinska’s core theoretical concept, what she terms “empathetic dissonance,” highlights the many problematic aspects at play in empathy while also showing that a broader conceptualization of empathy will create a richer and more just understanding of cultural trauma. She examines “empathy” as a structure to explore how we are held together with others as well as apart from them.
Sara Rafique (PhD, Psychology), “Development of Low-Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a Tool to Modulate Visual Disorders: Insight from Neuroimaging”
Sara Rafique’s research used a series of experiments in which she uses non-invasive brain stimulation to ameliorate a visual brain disorder in a case study of a neurological patient. She built upon her initial findings to further refine the stimulation parameters and characterize the biomarkers of this form of non-invasive stimulation.
For her first study, she used a brain stimulation approach with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in a patient study to ameliorate disruptive visual hallucinations that had arisen after an occipital stroke. For her second study, she demonstrated changes in the structural connectivity of the infarct region of cortex with other cortex regions associated with the patient’s hallucinations. Finally, she measured the effectiveness and duration of different dosages of the stimulation. The impact of this work will help inform parameters for the use of TMS in clinical settings as a therapeutic tool. To conduct her research, Rafique used a combination of challenging MRI techniques.
This foundational work is the first known therapeutic use of medium-term TMS to improve visual outcome in visual hallucinations and could lead to clinical trials in future.
Guillaume Dandurand (PhD, Social Anthropology), “The Techno-Politics of Food Security in New Delhi: The Re-Materialization of the Ration Card”
Drawing on 17 months of ethnographic fieldwork among the Right to Food activists in New Delhi, Guillaume Dandurand’s research tracks how the National Food Security Act came to be passed and how it has impacted the infrastructure of food procurement for the urban poor.
Dandurand focuses on one particular document: the ration card, which is used to access subsidized food. He describes the everyday practices of accessing rationed food among the residents of two informal settlements in New Delhi. In charting the terrain of rights and provisions, the dissertation analyzes how the digitization of the card and associated bureaucratic practices have generated systematic exclusions from the public and private infrastructure of food rations.
Faculty of Science postdoc earns spot in prestigious KEK-TRIUMF Exchange Program
Santucci, who is in the particle physics research group of Professor Sampa Bhadra of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, is one of four awardees for the 2019-20 program. This is the second year of the highly competitive program.
“This is a great opportunity for me to directly collaborate with our colleagues in Japan and advance the research done at York University and TRIUMF for the T2K neutrino experiment,” said Santucci.
TRIUMF is Canada’s particle accelerator centre and KEK is the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Japan. The EPECR is a researcher exchange program that promotes the development of up-and-coming researchers who will play a key role in accelerator science and its related fields.
EPECR provides early career researchers affiliated with either TRIUMF or KEK with the opportunity to perform research activities at the other institute, enriching both the Japanese and Canadian science and innovation landscapes.
“Santucci will use his time to improve the function of the optical transition radiation beam monitor built by York University, in collaboration with TRIUMF and the University of Toronto, for the T2K neutrino experiment in Japan, and he will also help develop future beam monitors in collaboration with his KEK hosts,” said Bhadra.
Honorary doctorate recipient Jennifer Doudna talks about learning to drive, ditches and research
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Jennifer Doudna, biochemist and leading genomics researcher, received an honorary doctor of science degree from York University during spring convocation ceremonies for graduates of the Faculty of Science on Thursday, June 20.
Doudna is the Li Ka Shing Chancellor’s Chair and a professor in the departments of Chemistry and Molecular & Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley. She is also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Jennifer Doudna delivers her convocation address to graduands of the Faculty of Science
Her co-discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering technology with French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier has changed human and agricultural genomics research forever. This genome-editing technology enables scientists to change or remove genes quickly, with a precision only dreamed of just a few years ago.
In an engaging convocation address, Doudna spoke to graduands of the Faculty of Science about the shared synergies that learning to drive and the unexpected ditch share with earning a degree and discovery in research.
“An American friend once said to me that getting a college or even a graduate degree is like receiving a driver’s license – it’s the gateway to the many opportunities that become available to each of us once we have the combination of knowledge, skills and confidence that come with a great education,” said Doudna. “My friend’s comment reminded me of an experience that I had before any of my own commencements, back when I was 16 years old and living with my family in Hilo, Hawaii. I was excited to turn 16 because I could get my learner’s permit to begin driving lessons, and Dad agreed to take me out on the weekend in the family car to start my driver’s education.”
Sitting behind the wheel of her family’s 15-year-old car that was equipped with a manual transmission, Doudna and her father set out on her first driving lesson. After about an hour of driving on flat roads, her father directed her to navigate a more challenging stretch of road. “Dad directed me around a corner, up a hill towards a dead end that required a sharp left turn to head down the hill to the other side. But as I was navigating that turn, trying to downshift the transmission and ease out the clutch and turn the steering wheel all at the same time, I failed to slow down sufficiently and ended up driving the car into a ditch, with the front end pointed down into the underbrush. Fortunately we were unhurt, but I was mortified!” she said with a wry smile.
The car was fine. Her pride and self-confidence were not so fine. Her father insisted she take the wheel again and drive home. “Reluctantly I did,” she said, “and we made it home safely. And in the process, I began to see a path forward to learning the skills I would need to become a safe and competent driver, including trusting myself, acknowledging shortcomings while focusing on ways to improve and grow.”
She learned the importance of picking herself up after a letdown, getting back to the task at hand and persisting even in the face of disappointment and discouragement. “He showed me that success requires facing rather than running away from failure,” said Doudna. “He taught me about the importance of perseverance in the face of challenges, and about the value of working through problems to achieve a goal, of not quitting in the face of adversity.”
Those lessons have played out over and over again throughout the course of her career and her path to the discovery of the CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering technology. Labs worldwide have changed the course of their research programs to incorporate this new tool, creating a CRISPR revolution with huge implications across biology and medicine.
From left: Chancellor Greg Sorbara, Jennifer Doudna and York President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton
In addition to her scientific achievements and eminence, Doudna is also a leader in public discussion of the ethical and other implications of genome editing for human biology and societies, and advocates for thoughtful approaches to the development of policies around the use of CRISPR-Cas9. She has received many prizes for her discoveries, including the Japan Prize (2016) and the Kavli Prize (2018), and in 2015 was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
In closing, the message regarding new discoveries and the challenges associated to making them contained in her story was clear to graduands. “Know that there will be challenges and perhaps the odd ‘ditch’ to climb out of, but that you can get back in the driver’s seat and move forward.”
York conference on predictive vision attracts scholars from around the world
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Vision researchers from around the world visited York University June 10 to 13 for the Centre for Vision Research (CVR) and Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) International Conference on Predictive Vision and shared interdisciplinary research from behavioural, computational and neuroscience perspectives.
The conference, held every two years, provides researchers in vision science an opportunity to collaborate and share knowledge. CVR and VISTA are leaders in human and machine vision research in Canada, and their interdisciplinary approach aims to produce technologies that will help people live healthier, safer and more productive lives.
“The topic of predictive vision was selected as embracing, and being consequential to, virtually all approaches to vision,” said York University Professor Laurence Harris, director of CVR.
York professors Doug Crawford, Mazyar Fallah, John Tsotsos and Joel Zylberberg were speakers at the event. Other presenters came from across Canada as well as the U.S., Germany and England.
Jim DiCarlo from MIT presented the keynote lecture
The closing keynote lecture was delivered by Jim DiCarlo, professor of neuroscience and head of the Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
DiCarlo’s talk focused on visual object categorization and detection, and he discussed how work in brain science, cognitive science and computer science converge to create deep neural networks that can support such tasks.
The event had 265 attendees and included more than 20 interdisciplinary presentations, and 92 trainee and researcher posters. There was also a Predictive Vision Philosophy satellite workshop held on June 9.
A poster session during the event
The poster awards were sponsored by Facebook Reality Labs (Human Vision) and MDA (Computer Vision), with first place (Computer Vision) going to Calden Wloka of York University and second place (Computer Vision) going to Saeed Ghorbani of York University. In the category of Human Vision, first place was awarded to Yaseen Jamal of Emory University and second place to Kris Ehinger of York University. The prizes ($300 for first place and $200 for second place) were presented by Piotr Jasiobedzki, product development manager, MDA, and Kevin MacKenzie, research science manager, Facebook Reality Labs.
The conference had 10 sponsors, including VISTA industry partners Qualcomm, Facebook Reality Labs, MDA and Next Canada, and was supported by a team of 12 graduate student volunteers.
About CVR and VISTA
The Centre for Vision Research is a world-renowned research unit combining biological and computational vision research at York University.
Vision: Science to Applications is a research funding program offering scholarships, prototyping awards and research grants to make York University No. 1 in the world for vision science.
Announcement of the appointment of dean, Faculty of Science
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York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton and Vice-President Academic and Provost Lisa Philipps issue this announcement to the University community:
We are pleased to inform members of the Faculty of Science and the York community that the search for dean of the Faculty of Science has reached a successful conclusion.
In 2018, we established a Search Committee comprised of members of the Faculty of Science (faculty, staff and students), one member appointed by the president and chaired by Professor Lyndon Martin, dean of the Faculty of Education.
Dr. Rui Wang
Following an extensive national and international search that attracted outstanding candidates, the Search Committee recommended the appointment of Dr. Rui Wang to the position. On June 4, the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors concurred with the committee’s recommendation. We are very pleased to announce that Dr. Wang has accepted our invitation to take up a five-year term appointment, commencing Jan. 1, 2020.
This is an important time in the development of the Faculty of Science as it builds on its substantial teaching and research successes, evolves to encompass new areas such as neuroscience, and continues to advance its reputation and profile nationally and internationally.
Dr. Wang joined York University in August of 2018 as deputy provost Markham and professor of biology in the Faculty of Science. Since that time, he has been working with colleagues from across the University, local industry, and the municipal government on the planning for a Markham campus, including programming, enrolments, resources and physical space. Since May 1, he has also been serving as interim vice-president research and innovation.
Prior to his appointment at York University, he held appointments as vice-president research at Laurentian University (2015-18) and vice-president of research, economic development and innovation at Lakehead University (2004-14). At both Laurentian and Lakehead, he initiated strategic research plans, introduced policies and initiatives to expand research activity, and promoted collaborations with the community, industry, and local, provincial and federal governments. He also oversaw the operation of the Centre for Academic Excellence, Laurentian’s teaching and learning centre, during 2015-16. A champion of diversity and equity throughout his career, he has promoted Indigenous teaching and research, and in 2017 was instrumental in supporting the establishment of the Maamwizing Indigenous Research Institute at Laurentian.
Dr. Wang holds a PhD in physiology from the University of Alberta, an MSc from F.M. Medical University in Xi’an, China, and an MD from Weifang Medical College in Shandong, China. He is an internationally respected scholar and leader in the study of the biomedical importance of hydrogen sulfide. He has held research grants from all three granting councils, and trained more than 120 graduate students, postdoctoral Fellows and other research personnel. An editor of three books, the author of more than 21 book chapters and 279 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals, Dr. Wang has delivered more than 160 lectures and keynotes worldwide and achieved an H-index of 73 for the citations of his publications.
We look forward to working with Dr. Wang in this new capacity in the coming years, and we invite all members of the Faculty to join us in congratulating him and wishing him well as he undertakes this important leadership role.
We would like to express our appreciation to Professor EJ Janse van Rensburg for the strong leadership he has provided to the Faculty of Science as its interim dean.
Finally, we would like to thank the members of the Search Committee for their contributions to this important process.
York University gains one renewed and five new Canada Research Chairs
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Featured image for the postdoc research story shows the word research in black type on a white background
One renewed and five new Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) from York University were announced on June 14 by the Government of Canada. They are:
Professor Mary Bunch, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design – Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Vision, Disability and the Arts;
Professor Theodore J. Noseworthy, Schulich School of Business – Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Entrepreneurial Innovation and the Public Good (renewal);
Professor Gillian Parekh, Faculty of Education – Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Inclusion, Disability and Education;
Professor Nikolaus Troje, Faculty of Science – Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Reality Research;
Professor Manus (Johnny) Rungtusanatham, Schulich School of Business – Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Supply Chain Management;
Professor Joel Zylberberg, Faculty of Science – Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Computational Neuroscience.
“The CRC Program supports some of the most important and exciting research currently being undertaken at York University,” said Rui Wang, interim vice-president research & innovation at York. “I congratulate Professors Bunch, Noseworthy, Parekh, Troje, Rungtusanatham and Zylberberg on this major accomplishment.”
Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs
Manus (Johnny) Rungtusanatham, Canada Research Chair in Supply Chain Management
Manus (Johnny) Rungtusanatham
Rungtusanatham, who will be joining the Schulich School of Business as a professor, researches supply chain breaches – for example, the removal or diversion of goods flowing towards or from a manufacturer (e.g. cargo theft), introduction of a substitute good (counterfeit) or a second good (contraband) into the physical flow of another good, and/or contamination of the good that is physically flowing (tampered goods). This research program advances a theory of supply chain securitization involving people, processes, and technology, informed through the lenses of immunology, military strategies and criminology.
Nikolaus Troje, Canada Research Chair in Reality Research
Nikolaus Troje
Troje, professor in the Department of Biology in the Faculty of Science, is a core member of Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) team within York’s Centre for Vision Research. In his BioMotionLab, he uses motion capture and 3D scanning technology to generate individualized avatars to be used in mixed realities. Using virtual reality (VR), he studies how we perceive objects and communicate with other people, how we experience and take ownership of our own body, and how we situate ourselves in the space that we seem to occupy.
Tier 2 Canada Research Chairs
Mary Bunch, Canada Research Chair in Vision, Disability and the Arts
Mary Bunch
Bunch, assistant professor in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, is an associate member of VISTA. Her teaching and research interests include interdisciplinary and collaborative critical disability, feminist and queer studies as well as critical theory and arts-based methodologies. Bunch asks how critical disability frameworks, peripheral perspectives and digital media arts can be employed to understand vision differently to challenge the cultural frameworks that treat vision as a neutral and objective route to knowledge. Starting from the premise that vision is partial, situated, embodied and connected to other senses, she explores the relationship between vision, the creative imagination and political praxis.
Gillian Parekh, Canada Research Chair in Inclusion, Disability and Education
Gillian Parekh
Parekh, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, explores institutional and structural barriers related to equitable access to education, particularly for students with disabilities. She conducts both quantitative and qualitative research investigating demographic, programmatic and experiential trends between public and post-secondary education. With a focus on special education and academic streaming, her work explores how schools construct and respond to disability. Her research addresses current issues in education and will make a difference in the lives of young people in the GTA and beyond.
Theodore J. Noseworthy
Theodore J. Noseworthy, Canada Research Chair in Entrepreneurial Innovation and the Public Good (renewed)
Noseworthy, an associate professor in the Schulich School of Business, has research interests in new product design and innovation. He explores how people make sense of new innovative products and how marketers can better facilitate adoption. Noseworthy is also interested in product categorization, category ambiguity and visual processing. In 2012, he was appointed Scientific Director of the NOESIS: Innovation, Design, and Consumption Laboratory, a scientific lab specifically developed to explore the psychological and behavioural consequences of innovative goods and services.
Joel Zylberberg, Canada Research Chair in Computational Neuroscience
Joel Zylberberg
Zylberberg, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the Faculty of Science, is a core member of VISTA. He studies the way the brain represents information about the outside world, and the way in which those representations are learned. His immediate goal is to build on his expertise in machine learning and sensory neuroscience to create a camera to brain translator that could restore sight to the blind and could be used in computer vision systems.
To read the CRC announcement, visit the Government of Canada website.
York University will celebrate outstanding community leaders with honorary degrees during convocation
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York University will award 10 honorary degrees during spring convocation this year to recognize outstanding contributions to community building, social justice, health research and philanthropy.
“The individuals we are honouring are transforming the lives of teachers in the Dadaab refugee settlements and new Canadians in Toronto. They are leading the way on social justice and human rights issues, and providing the world with groundbreaking health research,” said Rhonda L. Lenton, president and vice-chancellor of York University. “Their achievements serve as inspiration for York’s newest graduates and for all of us.”
Convocation will be held at York’s Keele Campus from Friday, June 14 to Friday, June 21 (see schedule). Ceremonies will be held at the Convocation Pavilion, Aviva Centre, located at 1 Shoreham Dr., on the west side of the Keele Campus.
Below are the honorary degree recipients in order of the Faculty ceremonies at which they will be honoured. Biographies of the honorary degree recipients can be found here.
The honorary degree recipients for spring convocation are: (top row, left to right) Lynn Posluns, Paul Alofs, Paul Gross, Marcie Ponte, Anne C. Cools, (bottom row, left to right) Jennifer Doudna, Marangu Njogu, Cheryl McEwen, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Gregory Belton
Lynn Posluns (Faculty of Health, Faculty of Environmental Studies and Lassonde School of Engineering – June 14, 3:30 p.m.)
Lynn Posluns is founder and president of Women’s Brain Health Initiative, which she established to ensure researchers considered gender differences in the brain.
Paul Alofs (Faculty of Health – June 17, 10:30 a.m.)
Paul Alofs is a social sector champion and former CEO of Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, where he successfully led the Billion Dollar Challenge fundraising campaign.
Paul Gross (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies – June 17, 3:30 p.m.)
Paul Gross is an eminent Canadian actor, writer, director, producer and arts supporter who brings Canada’s stories to Canadians.
Marcie Ponte (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies – June 18, 10:30 a.m.)
Marcie Ponte is executive director of the Working Women Community Centre and a community builder committed to new Canadians.
Anne C. Cools (Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies – June 19, 10:30 a.m.)
Anne Cools was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1984, becoming the first Black Canadian senator, and served for 35 years until retiring last year. She is a social justice and civil rights advocate and a pioneer in the protection of women from domestic abuse.
Jennifer Doudna (Faculty of Science – June 20, 10:30 a.m.)
Jennifer Doudna is a biochemist and leading genomics researcher whose co-discovery of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering technology has had huge impact on biology and medicine.
Marangu Njogu (Faculty of Education – June 20, 3:30 p.m.)
Marangu Njogu has provided leadership in the development of refugee education in Africa for three decades, including in the Dadaab refugee settlement where York University’s Faculty of Education delivers teacher education programs.
Cheryl McEwen (Schulich School of Business – June 21, 10:30 a.m.)
Cheryl McEwen is an entrepreneur and community leader. Cheryl and Rob McEwen’s philanthropy has made a tremendous impact on Canadian health care and education.
Kimberlé Crenshaw (Osgoode Hall Law School – June 21, 3:30 p.m.)
Kimberlé Crenshaw is a professor of law at Columbia Law School and the University of California, Los Angeles, and a leading scholar and thought leader in civil rights and Black feminist legal history.
Glendon Campus opened convocation season last Friday by awarding an honorary doctor of laws to businessman and philanthropist Gregory Belton.
The convocation website includes a full schedule of all ceremonies.
Faculty of Science Prof. Jianhong Wu wins coveted math prize
The Canadian Applied & Industrial Mathematics Society and the Fields Institute give the prize annually to those who have conducted exceptional research in industrial mathematics.
In particular, it is recognition of his collaborative research with public health professionals in government and industry, and for applying his expert knowledge to infectious disease mitigation strategies and preparedness.
The CAIMS-Fields Industrial Mathematics Prize is to be awarded to a researcher in recognition of exceptional research in any branch of industrial mathematics, interpreted broadly.
Wu will deliver the prize lecture, titled “Mathematical Trails of Infectious Disease Modelling for Public Health,” during the CAIMS annual meeting, June 9 to 13.
“Our goal is to develop modelling technologies directly applicable for addressing public health policy and intervention programs in different settings,” he said. “As such, we wanted to hear directly from medical, modelling and public health communities at the provincial, national and international levels about the issues and challenges of significance to these communities, and to present some of our progress to receive early feedback from the communities.”
The goal was also to “gain a good picture of the current challenges in Ontario and in Canada in terms of improving our pertussis immunization program,” Wu said.
Wu and his team have made progress in several projects relevant to pertussis, influenza and infection control during mass gatherings.
Kick off Pride Week celebrations with film screening and quilt unveiling
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Members of the York University community are invited to kick off Pride Week celebrations with a free screening of the film Queer Collie-tudes and the unveiling of the York community Pride Quilt on Monday, June 17.
Film screening
Where: Nat Taylor Cinema (N102 Ross Building)
When: 1 to 3 p.m.
What: Queer Coolie-tudes is an 80-minute film that explores the experiences of queer Canadians from the Indo-Caribbean diaspora. Following the screening there will be a Q-and-A with filmmaker and York U faculty member Michelle Mohabeer.
Note: The film Queer Coolie-tudes is not closed captioned. Learn more about the film by visiting the REI Pride web page.
Pride Quilt unveiling
When: Approximately 3:10 to 4 p.m.
Where: East Bear Pit (Central Square, Ross Building)
What: York students, staff and faculty have designed quilt squares for the York Pride Quilt, which will hang in Vari Hall during Pride Week, from June 17 to 21. Come see the unveiling of the quilt and enjoy light refreshments and rainbow cake.
At York, Pride is a time of visibility and celebration for 2SLGBTQIA students, staff and faculty. It is a time to reflect on the progress the University has made towards ending discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity and gender expression. It is also an important opportunity to recognize the strength, resilience and contributions of 2SLGBTQIA community members.
All York community members are welcome at these community-building events. Drop-ins are encouraged and registration is appreciated.
Those who require accommodations can email abishop@yorku.ca by Thursday, June 13.
This event is hosted by the Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Inclusion, the SexGen York Committee and the Art Gallery of York University. The event has been made possible due to contributions from the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Environmental Studies.
It was 50 years ago this July that the first man walked on the Moon as part of the Apollo 11 mission. Come celebrate that lunar achievement at a free event with York University’s Allan I. Carswell Observatory team in the Faculty of Science, from July 16 to 18.
