2026 University-Wide SRC Award Recipients
The following faculty members from across Toronto Metropolitan University have been recognized for their outstanding scholarly, research and creative (SRC) activities over the past year in the 2026 University-Wide SRC Awards.
Sarwan Sahota Distinguished Scholar Award
Khaled Sennah
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
Khaled Sennah has led innovative structural engineering research and infrastructure projects with a focus on bridge engineering. He has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the A.B. Sanderson Award, the TFA Career Achievement Award, the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership and the Horst Leipholz Medal from the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering. His innovations have been implemented in field projects and incorporated into bridge design codes. As an elected Fellow of five professional engineering societies spanning Canada and international communities, professor Sennah's dedication is evident through his mentorship, diverse research team and extensive international collaborations.
2025
- Michael Olson
Faculty of Science
2024
- Sharareh Taghipour
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2023
- Ebrahim Bagheri
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science - Ojelanki Ngwenyama
Ted Rogers School of Management
2022
- Alagan Anpalagan
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2021
- Lorraine Janzen Kooistra
Faculty of Arts
2020
- Michael Arts
Faculty of Science - Xiao-Ping Zhang
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2019
- Trevor Hart
Faculty of Arts - Mehrab Mehrvar
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2018
- Farrokh Janabi-Sharifi
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2017
- Ruth Panofsky
Faculty of Arts - Dérick Rousseau
Faculty of Science
Early SRC Career Excellence Award
Roxana Sühring
Faculty of Science
Roxana Sühring's research has made outstanding contributions to environmental science, focusing on the fate and impact of plastic pollutants. Since joining TMU in 2020, she achieved exceptional academic success, including 22 peer-reviewed publications and securing over $5.9 million in competitive external funding. Professor Sühring's contributions include pioneering methods in forensic chemistry for tracing contaminants to the source of pollution. She actively informs environmental policy and regulation. Notably, professor Sühring’s research philosophy ensures ethical and equitable real-world impact alongside scientific rigour. She is a trailblazing leader training the next generation of socially aware scientists.
2025
- Andrew (Hyounsoo) Kim
Faculty of Arts
2024
- Rania Hamza
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2023
- Stefania Impellizzeri
Faculty of Science - Dafna Sussman
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2022
- Eliza Chandler
Faculty of Community Services - April Khademi
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science - Atefeh Mashatan
Ted Rogers School of Management
2021
- Miranda Kirby
Faculty of Science
2020
- Elsayed Elbeshbishy
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2019
- Shelagh McCartney
Faculty of Community Services
2018
- Umberto Berardi
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science - Jamin Pelkey
Faculty of Arts
2017
- Sharareh Taghipour
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science - Scott Tsai
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
Collaborative SRC Award
Lesley Campbell
Faculty of Science
Lesley Campbell leads national, industry-focused collaborations that enable year-round berry production in controlled environments. She co-led the Shepherd Phase of Growing for the Future, uniting TMU, the University of Windsor and industry partners to integrate sensor-based crop monitoring, airflow engineering and pollination automation for continuous raspberry production. She then helped scale this work into a $5-million pilot farm with industry partners and is coordinating the multi-institutional proposal CEA-LINK (with KPU, Windsor, Ottawa and numerous industry collaborators) to establish Canada’s controlled-environment agriculture network. Her leadership delivers scientific innovation, commercialization pathways and new food-security capacity for Canada.
2025
- Farrokh Janabi-Sharifi
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science - Atefeh (Atty) Mashatan
Ted Rogers School of Management
2024
- Elsayed Elbeshbishy
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2023
- Michael Kolios
Faculty of Science
2022
- Julie James
Faculty of Community Services
2021
- Ebrahim Bagheri
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science - Sharareh Taghipour
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science
2020
- Frank Russo
Faculty of Arts
2019
- Josephine Wong
Faculty of Community Services
2018
- Catherine Beauchemin
Faculty of Science - Anatoliy Gruzd
Ted Rogers School of Management
2017
- Judy Finlay
Faculty of Community Services
Knowledge Mobilization and Engagement Award
Linda Rothman
Faculty of Community Services
Linda Rothman is an epidemiologist who leads research on preventable injuries and is a foremost expert in interventions to make roads safer. She plans her studies to ensure useful and available findings for communities and is committed to providing expert response when required. Her testimony was critical for the successful Charter challenge to the Ontario government’s legislation to remove separated bicycling infrastructure. She has worked tirelessly to communicate the findings of her study of automated speed enforcement in the face of efforts to roll back this effective intervention. She is dedicated to conducting community-engaged research and communicating her findings.
2025
- Anatoliy Gruzd
Ted Rogers School of Management
2024
- Josephine Pui-Hing Wong
Faculty of Community Services
2023
- Mandana Vahabi
Faculty of Community Services
2022
- Erin Ziegler
Faculty of Community Services
2021
- Kristine Newman
Faculty of Community Services - Ivor Shapiro
Faculty of Communication and Design
2020
- Patrice Dutil
Faculty of Arts
2019
- Candice Monson
Faculty of Arts
2018
- Marusya Bociurkiw
Faculty of Communication and Design
2017
- Jennifer Lapum
Faculty of Community Services
Social Innovation/Action SRC Award
Frank Russo
Faculty of Arts
Frank Russo has pioneered the use of group singing as a powerful tool for health and social innovation. Through his SingWell initiative, he has translated music psychology research into community practice, improving communication, confidence and belonging for individuals with speech and hearing challenges, while helping to reduce stigma and strengthen social connection. His leadership has seeded dozens of sustainable singing programs across Canada and internationally, including a registered charity that continues to bring joy and fulfillment to thousands. This impact has been achieved alongside an exceptional academic record, with over 150 peer-reviewed publications and over $10 million in research funding.