Dean's Teaching Award – Faculty (TFA) Recipients

2023 recipients

Michael Baumtrog

School of Business Management, Ted Rogers School of Management

Professor Michael Baumtrog is a dedicated and accomplished instructor. In spite of being in the pre-tenure phase of his career, he displays a confidence and an ability to connect with students more typical of seasoned senior instructors. His colleagues have praised him both for his technical pedagogical excellence in the classroom, and for his engaging style of teaching. He has also introduced classroom innovations that have resulted in student success and that have been adopted by colleagues. Beyond the classroom, he supports students in a number of ways, including co-authoring with graduate students and coaching case-competition teams.

Eliza Chandler

School of Disability Studies, Faculty of Community Services

A passionate critical disability studies scholar, curator and activist, Dr. Eliza Chandler promotes pedagogical practices that anticipate, welcome and embrace difference as a valued way of being and knowing. During the nine years since she began teaching in the School of Disability Studies, Dr Chandler has drawn on research and creative practice in disability arts and culture to develop innovative curriculum. Her courses on Cripping the Arts and Disability Cultural Production, first of their kind in Canada, disrupt normative aesthetics and foreground critical access with broad appeal to students across the University.

David Colangelo

School of Professional Communication, The Creative School

From facilitating experiential learning opportunities for students to developing open educational resources for instructors to improve mental health through creative assessment strategies, Dave has developed innovative and effective teaching and learning strategies. Dave’s classes are engaging, flexible, and student-centred. He seeks creative ways to support his students as a community of learners and is generous with his time and expertise. He also supports his colleagues in their work, participating in a multi-year community of practice focussed on solution-focussed graduate supervision. Dave actively reviews curricula to support EDI, and is currently leading the implementation of technology feedback from our PPR.

Reem El Asaleh

School of Graphic Communications Management, The Creative School

A multidisciplinary leader, researcher and educator, Dr. Reem El Asaleh’s pedagogy transforms classrooms into spaces for innovative, imaginative and joyful learning experiences. She is the supportive teacher we all wish we had, exemplifying how teaching could be rooted in an ethics of love and care. In these dark times that we are living, Dr. Reem is also a constant reminder of the power of higher education to stir change and why many of us have committed our lives to be educators.

Faezeh Ensan

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

Dr. Faezeh Ensan is dedicated to excellence in teaching by presenting learning material in a clear, well-organized, and well-motivating way. She offers guided opportunity for hands-on learning by designing course material in a way that places problems in context and excites students to brainstorm about possible solutions. Dr. Ensan has made learning material as accessible as possible especially in the challenging time of switching to online and then back to in-person course delivery during the Covid pandemic.

Nariman Farsad

Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Science

Dr. Nariman Farsad is an excellent instructor that brings a variety of teaching methods into his classroom. His teaching philosophy incorporates world class learning methods including projects that mimic the real work environment. He encourages collaboration and is always open to help students in all aspects of their learning experience, whether it is help with course materials, their journey in research or topics they are interested in. He constantly brings new innovative solutions and technology into his classroom and encourages his students to enjoy their learning journey at the Toronto Metropolitan University.

Jessica Jeong

Faculty of Arts Department of Psychology

Resilient and dedicated, Professor Jessica Jeong has accomplished so much. Jessica teaches large undergraduate classes and works collaboratively with many graduate TAs, which require exceptional organization and leadership skills. Jessica is impressive in her determination and unwavering commitment to teaching excellence. Jessica strives for access and equity, and designs her courses to be as student-centered as possible. Jessica reflects on her successes and failures, and improves on her course design for the best interest of students. Jessica is highly innovative, and has sought out opportunities, above and beyond what was required, to provide the best learning experience for her students.

Lauren Munro

School of Disability Studies, Faculty of Community Services

Professor Lauren Munro is an innovative teacher, cultivating classroom environments that are compassionate, thought provoking, and spark critical thinking. Professor Munro brings her whole self into the classroom, encouraging students to approach their work in ways that are humble, personally meaningful and reflexive. As a mad, queer, fat activist scholar, Professor Munro encourages students to see the classroom as a site of personal and social transformation and a space to explore how the world could be otherwise. She is also the consummate collaborator, working across academic units and institutions to demonstrate how we can learn interdependently.

Charlene Nicholls-Nixon

School of Business Management, Ted Rogers School of Management

Dr. Charlene Nicholls-Nixon joined the Entrepreneurship and Strategy Department in 2016 as an associate professor, bringing a passion for experiential learning and a wealth of international experience teaching in Canada, Mexico and the US. She has made many important contributions to the undergraduate program in Entrepreneurship, including developing a new core course, ENT 528 New Venture Development, which is being offered for the first time in Fall 2022. Dr. Nicholls-Nixon brings a fresh perspective, and has challenged our department to develop in ways that enhance student experiences and enable the department to remain at the forefront of entrepreneurship education.

Daniel Rubenson

Department of Politics & Public Administration, Faculty of Arts

Dr. Daniel Rubenson is a well-deserving candidate for the Dean’s Teaching Award - Faculty (RFA) as a notable faculty member in the department of Politics and Public Administration, and the broader Faculty of Arts, both in his capacity as a professor and as a researcher for 16 years. Dr. Rubenson’s teaching excellence is illustrated in his accessible teachings of the fundamentals of comparative political science and empirical data research to undergraduate and graduate students, his establishment of the Behavioural Political Economy Group to boost student research engagement, his ongoing development of data-centered curricula, and his mentoring of young scholars internationally.

Kinga Anna Zawada

Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Faculty of Arts

I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the Dean’s teaching award than Dr. Kinga Zawada, my colleague, mentor and friend. She makes a difference, and people who make a difference should be awarded and recognized. One of her many contributions is her hard work and happy disposition in the face of adversity.

Dr. Kinga Zawada has led the department during the most difficult times and we are grateful that her leadership in and outside of the classroom has made a difference. Her teaching contributed in a distinctive way to improving and showed innovation and creativity in delivering lasting results.

Past recipients