The Excellence Through Innovation Award (ETIA) program recognizes exemplary administrative staff and librarians and provides a platform for sharing outstanding practices across our tri-campus community. It is an institutional award program that acknowledges and celebrates contributions towards the University’s mission as one of the world’s foremost research-intensive universities, driven to invent and innovate. 

The ETIA program celebrates individuals and project teams/groups who make a significant contribution to U of T in five areas: enriching the student experience; promoting and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion; elevating the employee experience; improving administrative/operational processes; and/or fostering community connection. 220  staff and librarians received an ETIA in 2025-26. 

The five individual winners are: 

• Colin Gibson, Culture & Inclusion and Academic Affairs, Department of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, recognized for revolutionizing the promotions process for the Department.
   

• Jeff Burrow, Special Projects Officer, Office of the Vice-President & Provost, recognized for developing three interconnected initiatives that link student success data with practical strategies and funding to pilot new approaches to advance student success.
   

• Mark Adkins, Psychometrician & Project Manager, Office of the Associate Dean, MD Program, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, recognized for developing efficient and effective automations that have revolutionized data analysis and reporting within the Program.
   

• Shannon Simpson, Senior Director, Indigenous Initiatives, Office of the Vice-President & Provost and the Office of the Vice-President, People Strategy, Equity & Culture, recognized for advancing the design and development of several Indigenous spaces on the St. George campus.
   

• Sobiga Vyravanathan, Curriculum & Education Coordinator, Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, recognized for enriching the student experience and improving operational processes within the Institute’s curriculum and education portfolios. 

 

In addition to the winning individuals, fifteen groups/project teams were also recognized for their outstanding innovation and collaboration at the University: 

• The Academic Integrity Case Management System Team, recognized for launching the digital solution redefining how academic misconduct cases are managed at the University of Toronto Scarborough. The winning team members are Ayeshika Wickremasinghe, Kevin Yang, Michael Zhou, Nisha Panchal, Sergio Domenic Santilli, Shanti Nauth, and Vivien Suen.
   

• The Alumni Innovator Engagement Framework Team, recognized for developing a model of cross-divisional collaboration that has deepened alumni connection, supported the success of U of T ventures, and reinforced U of T’s role as a leader in shaping Canada’s innovation economy. The winning team members are Adrian Barrow, Alexandra Kavanagh, Alyson Bruce, Anna Kadir, Anthony Miceli, Barbara Dick, Dina Roussain, Emily Pimblett, Erin McCaughan, Giselle Arsenault, Glenn Best, Jennifer Lo, Jody Townshend, John Hermans, Jon French, Jona Malile, Julia Knapp, Justine Spero, Kurtis Scissons, Laura Dykstra, Laura Stradiotto, Matthew Volpe, Matthew Willis, Michael DiPaul, Michael Henry, Morgan Rose, Naresh de Silva, Scott Baker, Susan Fischer, Susanna Lam, Talar Nersesian, and Urmilla Coelho.
   

• The Anti-Islamophobia Programming Initiative at University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) Team, recognized for advancing inclusion and belonging at UTSC through volunteer leadership of a grassroots, staff-led initiative to address a programming gap for UTSC students, faculty members, librarians, and staff. The winning team members are Manaal Hussain, and Shehna Jabbar-Javeed.
   

• The CORE Project Team, recognized for creating operational efficiencies by coordinating strategy and creating knowledge-sharing opportunities to strengthen collective grant strategy, partnership development, and awards nomination processes. The winning team members are Amy Ratelle, Aurora Mendelsohn, Christine Misquitta, Ely Lyonblum, Jarrod Ladouceur, Jeremy Knight, Judith Chadwick, Madeleine Taylor, Renee Brost, Sarah Carson, Sean Caffrey, and Vinita Haroun Bansod.
   

• The Faculty of Arts & Science Experiential Learning & Outreach Support (ELOS) & Advancement Project Team, recognized for significantly enhancing the student experience by embedding alumni and donor partnerships into experiential learning. The winning team members are Bilal Khan, Emily Wilson, Heather McLean, Jennifer Leigh Wells, John Cowling, Jordana Greenstein, Katie Oosterhof, Leneque Carson, Libby West, Maurice Fernandes, Michael McKinnon, Nell Bent, Niamh Earls, Panna Chauhan, Ramine Haider, Rebecca Sproat, Roger Francis, Sara Franca, Sarah Steed, Shahroukh Sotodeh, Teresa Simm, and Vicki Lowes.
   

• The Guide to Experiential Learning Accommodations for Faculty, Staff & Supervisors Team, recognized for creating multiple roles and resources dedicated to supporting accessibility within Experience and Work Integrated Learning (EWIL). The winning team members are Ainsley Goldman, Allison Scully, Annicka Stabenow, Ben Poynton, Brittany Cohen, Clare Gilderdale, Elizabeth Martin, Heather Kelly, Jennifer Evans, Leora Jackson, Michael Nicholson, Nicole Birch-Bayley, Pearl Levey, and Reginald Oey.
   

• The Hart House Farm Review & Indigenous Partnered Land-Based Learning Team, recognized for completing an extensive review and beginning the process of implementing its recommendations on fostering intergenerational knowledge sharing and Indigenous land-based learning. The winning team members are Alphonse Daniel, Calista Barber, Chun Kit Chris Wong, Danielle Dinunzio, David Kim, Day Milman, Debora Yu, Jenifer Newcombe, Jermane Hall, Michelle Brownrigg, Olivia Allen, Owen Gao, Sasa Rajsic, and Stephen Warn.
   

• The Landmark Project Team, recognized for leading the most significant open-space transformation of the St. George campus in over a century. The winning team members are Adrian Christopher Phillips, Amy Johar, Angellee Bent, Anjali Baichwal, Belmira Montenegrino, Brian Szuberwood, Bruce Mitchell, Christine Burke, Christine Kellowan, Costas Catsaros, Daniel Goncalves, David Lehto, Elaine Grant, Flavio Bertolo, Jacquanline Tsz Kan Liu, John Tolentino, Johnny Terzis, Jonathan Cheevers, Jonathon Millard, Jose Tomas Pulido Semprun, Kaitlyn Myles, Keith Foster, Kelley Baldwin, Kent Au, Laragh Jane Halldorson, Libera Petrini, Margaret Mikolas, Matthew Volpe, Maureen Beckett, Michal Kuzniar, Michelle Kit Ling Poon, Michelt Carvalho, Morgan Rose, Muhanad Muhamed Sidek, Nazerit Hagos, Noel Troxell, Paul Gargaro, Peter Johnston, Raymond Monteiro, Rohini Chopra, Ron Saporta, Ruth Binns, Sam Xu, Scott Baker, Scott Hendershot, Scott Ling, Shauna Olaveson, Stan Szwagiel, Susan Graham Fine, Vic Cassano, and Vlad Pekh.
   

• The Office of the Vice-President, International Africa Health Collaborative Secretariat Team, recognized for supporting the Africa Health Collaborative in developing equitable and respectful community partnerships, and in co-creating scalable and sustainable initiatives. The winning team members are Edward Nkole, Edwina Apaw, Jesusmiracle Chiadika, Marie Therese Yaba Ndiaye, Penina Lam, Rhoda Akuol Philip, and Tak Koguchi.
   

• The Recognized Study Group & the Faculty of Arts & Science Online Services Project Team, recognized for introducing the Online Service Platform to automate workflows, improve accuracy and user experience, while increasing administrative efficiency in delivering student-centred programs. The winning team members are Anthony Cho, Ashley Pereira-Mendoza, Asif Ali, Brenda Huang, Issam Mikdashi, and Scott Clarke.
   

• The REDCAP Working Group, recognized for transforming an outdated paper-based hiring process for casual employees into a secure, automated, and highly efficient system by repurposing the research tool, REDCap. The winning team members are Aaron Lane, Christopher Arnold, Paul Morrison, Ryan Lyn, and Sharon Grandison.
   

• The Remote Operations & Control Centre Team, recognized for developing and launching a data-driven hub that revolutionizes how Facilities & Services responds to and manages service requests related to heating, cooling, humidity, and ventilation issues on the St. George campus. The winning team members are Conor Kealey, Michelt Carvalho, and Sean Dela Cruz.
   

• The Support, Engage, Experience (SEE) University of Toronto Scarborough Team, recognized for collaborating with the Toronto District School Board to support Black and Indigenous-identifying high school students in accessing post-secondary education at U of T and beyond. The winning team members are Alykhan Hirji, Andrew Situ, Anushay Irfan Khan, Celeste Ceres, Denise Lopes, George Kwame Amoh, Kimberley Tull, Kyomi Hastings, Marisa J Silver, Melanie Blackman, Mina Ganguli, and Shakeeb Ahmed.
   

• The Transfer Credit Modernization Team, recognized for redesigning one of U of T’s most complex and high-impact academic processes: transfer credit management. The winning team members are Adam Giles, Alex Schmidt, Ansley Yau, Christine Chau, David Wang, Dominic Abogado, Fahim Kazemi, Jolee Chi Ching Chan, Justin Keith, Kristina Bosilkovski, Lauren Glynn, Lin Wang, Lina Aristizabal, Magdalene Cheung, Matt Hendrickson, Milad Tabataba, Nalayini Balasubramaniam, Nevine Chawra, Octavio Gonzalez, Sabrina Lachman, Saira Hamid, Stella Ip, Terrence Lago, Timothy Linden, Tricia Kay, Victorina Baxan, Viviana Zea.
   

• The U of T Co-op Centralized Hub Team, recognized for establishing shared operational processes across five Co-op programs and 63 academic disciplines across the tri-campus. The winning team members are Anil Narin Sirju, Catherine McCormick, Joey dela Cruz, Jordan Pagnello, Nina Ambros Beckles, Rachel Claire Rico, Robin Kotisa, Sarah Anne Marie Strachan, Tiffany Kwong. 

Congratulations to all the 2025-26 ETIA Award winners.