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Photo highlights from the Toronto Met Awards Gala 2025

Celebrating faculty and staff excellence at the Mattamy Athletic Centre
By: Asmaa Toor
May 23, 2025
Attendees seated at tables look toward speakers on a stage.

The annual Toronto Met Awards Gala celebrates faculty and staff achievements from across the university. All photos by Alyssa K. Faoro.

On May 8, the Mattamy Athletic Centre's varsity court was once again filled with energy and celebration as faculty, staff and university leadership gathered for the 2025 Toronto Met Awards Gala. 

The annual event recognizes exceptional achievements across the university and continues a new tradition introduced last year: honouring long-service milestone recipients.

This year's gala celebrated 120 staff and faculty members who reached significant service milestones, including 25, 30, 35, 40 and 45+ years of dedicated service to the university. 

These individuals have shown unwavering commitment to their students, colleagues, and the broader TMU community throughout their careers.

From groundbreaking scholarly, research, and creative (SRC) activities to inspiring teaching and visionary leadership, the Toronto Met Awards Gala shines a spotlight on the brilliant minds and hard work at TMU. 

To view memorable moments of the evening, see photo highlights below. (All photos by Alyssa K. Faoro.)

For the full list of award recipients and long-service milestone honourees, visit the Recognition and Awards website.

Two women on stage as event emcees.

Andrea Ridgley (left), manager, Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and Arianne Persaud (right), executive director, Office of the Vice-President, Administration and Operations, hosted the Awards Gala as emcees.

Two women smile for the camera after one receives an award.

Daniela Cristini (right) from Student Wellbeing receives the Counsellor Award from Jen McMillen (left), vice-provost, students.

A woman and man smile for the camera on stage after one receives an award.

Scott Sørli (right), from the Department of Architectural Science, receives the Joe Zboralski Teaching and Community Engagement Award from Provost and Vice-President, academic Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano.

A man and woman pose for a photo on stage after one receives an award.

Eternity Martis (right) receives the Dean’s SRC Activity Award from The Creative School Dean Charles Falzon (left).

A woman and two men pose for a photo on stage at an awards event.

Professor Sean Wise (middle) from TRSM  receives the President's Award for Teaching Excellence from President Mohamed Lachemi (right) and Provost and Vice-President, Academic Roberta Iannacito-Provenzano (left).

Two men smile for a photo after one receives an award at an event.

Andrew (Hyounsoo) Kim (right) from the Faculty of Arts receives the Early SRC Career Excellence Award from Vice-President, Research and Innovation Steven Liss (left).

A group of people pose on stage after receiving an award.

From left, the Academic Plan team receives the Julia Hanigsberg Make Your Mark Staff Award: Alexandra Culcearu, Tony Conte, Rose Sandino, Johanna VanderMaas, Julia Hennessey, Kimberley McCausland, Marc Mainguy, awarded by Saeed Zolfaghari.

A man and woman pose on stage after one receives an award.

Yew-Thong Leong (right) receives the Alan Shepard Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award from Vice-President, Equity & Community Inclusion Toni De Mello.

A group of people pose on stage after winning an award.

The IBZ team including Tabitha Grant, Shiqiang Jing, Wesley Kosiba, Tarek Sadek, Torrey Sirdevan and Ashutosh Syal receive the President’s Blue and Gold Award from President Mohamed Lachemi (left).

A group of jazz musicians perform on stage.

The Gala Quartet, led by TMU Superstar Preethi Suresh, graduate of the Urban Planning program, featured Professional Communication graduate Rangga Luksatrio on saxophone and guitar, Marketing graduate Ama Tadevosyan on bass guitar, and Mechanical Engineering graduate Michael Kang on guitar, and serenaded gala attendees with jazz standards and torch songs before and after the ceremony.

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