On October 30, members of the Math community gathered to celebrate of Faculty of Math’s second Equity and Inclusive Communities Awards. The awards are part of the Faculty’s larger commitment to the Equity and Inclusive Communities Principles.
“Congratulations and thank you to the four individuals and the group receiving awards today,” said Dr. Jochen Koenemann, dean of the Faculty of Math, during his opening remarks. “The impact of your work extends far beyond this room, and has indelibly changed our community for the better.”
Representatives of the Math Tutoring Centre receive their award
The recipients, including non-exhaustive highlights from their nominations, are as follows:
- Group category: Math Tutoring Centre – for creating a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive space for students of all backgrounds, including hiring tutors with diverse skillsets, ethnicities, and gender expressions, as well as fostering multilingual support and peer mentorship.
- Employee category: Dr. Joanne Atlee, professor of Computer Science – for decades of equity and inclusion work in the School of Computer Science, particularly as inaugural and current director of Women in Computer Science
- Student category: AJ Fong – for creating community for 2SLGBTQIA+ students on campus and internationally, particularly as a founding member and current president of Pride Factors
- Student category: jointly to Cicely Henderson and Erica Liu – for contributions to the Women in Mathematics (WiM) community, including mentorship in the Directed Reading and Research Program (DRP) and co-organization of the Ontario Graduate Mathematics Conference (OGMC) and Navigating Your Careers (NYC) conference
In addition, there were three honourable mentions:
- Dr. Sue Ann Campbell, professor of Applied Mathematics, for leadership and EDI advocacy, particularly within the department of Applied Math and in support of WiM
- Dr. Sophie Spirkl and Dr. Kateryna Tatarko, jointly, for their work as coordinators of the WiM Directed Reading and Directed Research Programs.
“In addition to thanking and honouring the efforts of all our award winners and honourable mentions, we should also be thinking about how we can support their work and how we can encourage our colleagues to do the same,” says Jeremy Steffler, the Faculty’s Equity Officer. “The more people who collectively engage in work, the more manageable the work becomes for all of us.”
To learn more about the principles and how they’re being applied to the Faculty of Mathematics, visit the Equity and Inclusive Communities website.