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Sarwan Sahota Distinguished Scholar Award Recipients

The Sarwan Sahota Distinguished Scholar Award is presented annually to one or more established faculty members (mid to late career) who have made an outstanding contribution to knowledge or artistic creativity in their area(s) of expertise while employed at Toronto Metropolitan University. The contribution to SRC activity may be a notable, significant, cumulative contribution; or a particularly insightful or formative body of work (which may include  discovery, application, interpretation, or creative or artistic work), either of which has had great impact or significant outcomes and/or has changed the nominee’s field/discipline.

Award recipient(s) will receive a certificate of recognition and a monetary award of $3,000 as a one-time payment (subject to applicable deductions).

The Distinguished Scholar Award is made available through the joint contributions of professor emeritus Sarwan Sahota and Toronto Metropolitan University.

Key criteria: Scholarly, research and creative activity

2023 recipient

Ojelanki Ngwenyama

School of Business Management, Ted Rogers School of Management

IS World has named Dr. Ngwenyama as one of the top 100 information technology researchers in the world. He has published more than 100 articles and is the lead investigator or co-investigator on SSHRC funded projects, as well as projects funded by research agencies in Europe and South Africa. Along with other awards, he received a D.Phil (honoris causa) from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa for international contributions to research methods in the field of information systems. His impact on students around the world is remarkable.

Ebrahim Bagheri

Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science

Dr. Bagheri is a truly interdisciplinary researcher who has impacted industry, government and civil society through community engagement and knowledge translation. His Responsible AI initiative is unique in that it highlights the need to balance economic development with social good. Ebrahim has raised $11M+ in research funds as principal investigator; supervised 85+ HQP; published 75+ journal articles in premier venues; served on the Technical Program Committees of 100+ workshops and conferences; and co-founded the International Workshop on Mining Actionable Insights from Social Networks (MAISoN). In recognition of his contributions to knowledge transfer, Dr. Bagheri received the prestigious NSERC Synergy Award.

Past recipients

  • Alagan Anpalagan
    Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
  • Lorraine Janzen Kooistra
    Department of English, Faculty of Arts
  • Michael Arts
    Department of Chemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science
  • Xiao-Ping Zhang
    Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
  • Trevor Hart
    Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts
  • Mehrab Mehrvar
    Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
  • Farrokh Janabi-Sharifi
    Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
  • Ruth Panofsky
    Department of English, Faculty of Arts
  • Dérick Rousseau
    Department of Chemistry and Biology, Faculty of Science