�鶹��Ƶ

The University of Toronto will recognize 16 outstanding individuals with honorary degrees from Indigenous political and cultural leaders to an internationally renowned photographer and a pioneering pair of evolutionary biologists.

The recipients include Inuk singer and songwriter Susan Aglukark, leading Arab human rights defender Amal Basha, the “archaeologist of black memory” Robert A. Hill, and chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Murray Sinclair. They’ll receive their degrees at upcoming convocation ceremonies and address a graduating class.

“The University of Toronto is proud to honour this diverse group of truly extraordinary leaders,” said President Meric Gertler. “They have demonstrated excellence and tenacity in their fields, from music to law, business to health care, science to journalism, and will be an inspiring reminder to our graduates and all in attendance of the power of individuals to create real, meaningful change.”

The honorary degree recipients are:

Susan Aglukark – A celebrated Inuk singer and songwriter, she has bridged the worlds of traditional Inuit culture and the entertainment industry. Throughout her career, whether through song, volunteer work or advocacy, Aglukark has taken the experiences of her youth and the challenges of northern communities and found ways to promote change and healing. (photo by Denise Grant Photography)

Sir George Alleyne – An advocate for equity in public health and development in the Caribbean, he was the first Caribbean person to be appointed director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). From 2003-2010, Alleyne served as the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean region. He is currently chancellor and emeritus professor of the University of the West Indies and director emeritus of PAHO.

Amal Basha – A leading advocate for the rule of law, gender equality, and human rights in the Arab world, she is the founder of the Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights in Yemen. At great personal risk, she has pressed the Yemeni government to uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law, especially UN conventions against torture and discrimination against women. She has also promoted the International Criminal Court as a mechanism for protecting the basic rights of vulnerable people in the absence of a functioning state.

Edward Burtynsky – One of Canada's most respected photographers, his work depicting global industrial landscapes can be seen in more than 60 major museums around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Early exposure to the sites and images of the General Motors plant in his hometown of St. Catharines, helped develop his photographic work. His imagery explores the collective human impact on the surface of the planet and is an inspection of the systems humans have imposed onto natural landscapes. (photo by Martin Lipman)

John M. Cassaday – A distinguished Canadian business leader and University of Toronto alumnus, he has transformed the Canadian television industry, first as president and CEO of CTV and later as founding president and CEO of Corus Entertainment. In addition, he has significantly shaped the Canadian business landscape through his extensive service as a corporate director and is known as one of Toronto’s most dedicated and effective fundraisers, having co-chaired successful major fundraising campaigns for the Rotman School of Management and St. Michael's Hospital.

Larry Phillip (Phil) Fontaine – A courageous Indigenous leader, he played a pivotal role in bringing the issue of residential schools to national attention. While serving as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, he successfully negotiated the Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, resolving the largest class action in Canadian history and providing innovative ways to honour survivors and preserve their stories. In addition to financial compensation, the agreement helped establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. (photo by Fred Cattroll photos)

B. Rosemary Grant & Peter Grant – Among the most storied and accomplished biologists of this generation, their four decades of work on the evolution of the Galapagos finches has become the most important empirical work on evolution in nature since Darwin. Recognized throughout the scientific community, the professors emeriti at Princeton University were awarded the Kyoto Prize in 2009 for their remarkable contributions to the sciences. Together, they discovered that evolution by natural selection can be seen within one’s lifetime, proving one of Darwin’s theories incorrect.

Robert A. Hill – Aptly referred to as the “archaeologist of black memory,” this �鶹��Ƶ alumnus is the world’s leading authority on the global influence and intellectual currents of Pan-Africanism in the 20th century. Hill, a professor emeritus at UCLA, has amassed a crucial archive of Cyril Brigg’s pioneering New Negro journal, The Crusader, and the manuscript of C.L.R. James’ unpublished masterpiece, American Civilization. As editor-in-chief of the Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers, he has published 14 volumes to date on the mass movement inspired by the Jamaican activist.

Catherine Lacavera – A globally recognized leader in the field of intellectual property law, she has led a team of lawyers in successfully defending more than a thousand patent and other global intellectual property claims as director of IP and litigation for Google Inc. Lacavera's work has affirmed the legality and ensured the continued availability of a free and open Internet, user-generated content platforms, content streaming and many other innovative technologies. She is a three-time graduate of the University of Toronto, serves on the advisory board for �鶹��Ƶ’s department of electrical and computer engineering and is actively involved with The Entrepreneurship Hatchery within the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.

Margaret O. MacMillan – A distinguished historian, she is renowned both for her academic work and as a public intellectual. She is best known for her award-winning book, Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World, which examined the diplomatic aftermath of the First World War. Her most recent book is History’s People: Personality and History. She is currently warden of St. Antony’s College and a professor of international history, University of Oxford (she is on leave from �鶹��Ƶ's department of history). She is also a graduate and former provost of Trinity College.

Peter Mansbridge – As chief correspondent for CBC News, anchor of The National, and host of Mansbridge: One on One, he has had an extraordinary impact on Canadian politics, culture and society. Mansbridge has announced that after anchoring Canada Day coverage this year, he will retire. Through his career, he has helped foster an informed, enlightened, critically intelligent and expansive national conversation. He has also been a reassuring and welcome presence for generations of Canadians. In particular, at times of national celebration and crisis, he is a trusted and authoritative voice. (photo courtesy of CBC)

Arthur B. McDonald – Co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics, he has played a pivotal global role in advancing the field of particle astrophysics. The Queen’s University professor has made outstanding contributions to measuring the properties of basic neutrinos (subatomic particles considered the basic building blocks of the universe), as well as solar models, which have significant implications for our understanding of the universe and its development. He is director of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory and associate director of SNOLAB, an underground science laboratory near that northern Ontario city.

André Picard – A bestselling author and a Canadian health-care advocate, he is best known for his award-winning work as a reporter and columnist for The Globe and Mail, where he has been a staff writer since 1987. Picard’s writing on important health issues, from the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s to today’s nursing shortage, has transcended daily journalism to take a wider and longer term view of key issues in health policy, elevating debates about health care and related policy issues locally, nationally, and globally.

Reeta Roy – A compassionate anti-poverty advocate, she has devoted her career to breaking down barriers and improving the lives of economically disadvantaged communities across Africa, particularly of women and girls, through her leadership of public and private foundations. Since 2008, Roy has been President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation. Under her leadership, the Foundation created the $800-million MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program, which partners with over 20 educational institutions around the world, including �鶹��Ƶ, to provide scholarships to enable qualified students from Sub-Saharan Africa to attend university.

Murray Sinclair – As chief commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he participated in hundreds of hearings across Canada and worked tirelessly to ensure that survivors of the Indian Residential Schools had the opportunity to testify. The report and its 94 recommendations have sparked a major re-examination of how Canadians see themselves and provide clear guidelines on the steps that must be taken to adequately address the debt to the Indigenous peoples. Sinclair is also a Canadian senator and served as co-chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in Manitoba from 1988 to 1991.

Ten �鶹��Ƶ social media stars to follow

Romi Levine — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 22:06:26 +0000

Ten �鶹��Ƶ social media stars to follow

Romi Levine Mon, 02/06/2017 - 17:06

Cutline

�鶹��Ƶ has many interesting faculty, students and alumni who offer interesting takes on politics, life and the economy (photo by ThoroughlyReviewed.com via Flickr)

Topic

University of Toronto's sharpest minds and wittiest wordsmiths are taking to Twitter, Instagram and YouTube to share their expert insights and unique perspectives with communities inside and outside the university.

Here are just a few to follow:

Sabrina Cruz NerdyAndQuirky

Even before her first year at �鶹��Ƶ, Cruz was a YouTube star. The Schulich Leader has over 100,000 subscribers and millions of views.

Follow if: you like funny takes on pop culture, history and science

Dr. Mike Evans DocMikeEvans

Evans is an associate professor at University of Toronto's medical school. His popular YouTube videos on health education attracted the likes of Apple who recruited him to work on a digital health care project.

Follow if: you want to learn more about health and wellness in a fun and entertaining way

Danielle Martin @docdanielle

Martin, an author and assistant professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, tweets about big ideas around innovation in health and medicine.

Follow if: you’re interested in learning how to make health care better

Jonathan Sun @jonnysun

Engineering alumnus Sun is a jack of all trades but is best known for his odd, yet hilarious, Twitter account which has inspired him to write a book.

Follow if: you need a good old-fashioned laugh

why do birds
suddenly appear
every time
you are near
just like me
they long to be
creeping u out with their beady eyes
— jomny sun (@jonnysun) January 17, 2017

Renée Hložek @reneehlozek

Astrophysics professor Hložek takes to Twitter for insight into our place in the universe.

Follow if: you’re into space talk and social justice

Aisha Ahmad @ProfAishaAhmad

Ahmad, an assistant professor at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough’s department of political science and the Munk School of Global Affairs, weighs in on the most pressing issues facing Canada and the U.S.

Follow if: you want thoughtful insight and good reads on the latest news

Adrian Phiffer @officeofadrianphiffer

Architect and lecturer at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design uses Instagram as a way of showcasing the work of his design firm while highlighting the creativity of his students.

Jeffrey Dvorkin @jdvorkin

At a time when the media is considered the official “opposition” by the Trump administration, commentary from people like Dvorkin, director of the journalism program at �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough, is all the more important.

Follow if: you care about the future of journalism and freedom of the press

Joshua Gans @joshgans

Gans, Jeffrey S. Skoll Chair of Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship and professor of strategic management at U of T's Rotman School of Management, offers a snarky take on business and current affairs.

Follow if: you like to smirk while reading the latest on the Trump saga

Sarah Kaplan @sarah_kaplan

As director of the Institute for Gender and the Economy, Rotman School of Management Professor Kaplan takes on the worlds of business and equality and the ways they intersect.

Follow if: you’re fired up from the Women’s March

Do you have a favourite �鶹��Ƶ tweeter, YouTuber or instagrammer? Let us know!

(photo at top by ThoroughlyReviewed.com via Flickr)

�鶹��Ƶ joins international ALS project

ullahnor — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 16:05:02 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ joins international ALS project

ullahnor Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:05

Cutline

The project will map the DNA profiles of 15,000 people with ALS and create a global database of genetic information on the disease (photo by MV Maverick via Flickr)

Dan Haves

Author legacy

Dan Haves

Topic

Ekaterina Rogaeva, a professor of neurology at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine, is joining an international team of researchers trying to determine why some people develop ALS.

Known as Project MinE, the team helped discover the gene linked to ALS. It includes researchers in 17 nations, and now thanks to support from the ALS Society of Canada (ALS Canada), Canadian researchers have joined the team.

“About half of ALS heritability remains to be explained,” says Rogaeva (pictured left), who is also a researcher at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases.

In an effort to accelerate the search for a cure, Project MinE plans to map the DNA profiles of 15,000 people with ALS along with a control group of 7,500 people and create a global database of genetic information on the disease. With this new data, the hope is that researchers around the world can better target ALS by understanding the genetic mutations that lead to disease.

“Only together can we obtain sufficient power to analyze DNA samples from several thousand cases and controls so the ongoing whole genome sequencing of each MinE sample is critical,” say Rogaeva.

ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a neurodegenerative disease that gradually paralyzes the body. Most people who are diagnosed with ALS die within two to five years of diagnosis as there is currently no effective treatment or cure. One thousand Canadians are diagnosed with ALS each year.

Project MinE will receive both the financial support of the ALS Canada and the scientific support of some of Canada’s leading ALS researchers. This is the first cross-Canada collaboration on ALS research and is one of the six projects funded by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

ALS Canada and its research team hope to contribute up to 1,000 DNA profiles to the MinE Project. They are currently seeking federal funding, which would also allow the stored DNA profiles of Canadians with ALS to be added to the database.

“Having such a large sample set could improve understanding of the disease in order to provide the best medical advice to ALS carriers,” Rogaeva notes.

Undead or unexplained? Photos, books on the paranormal at �鶹��Ƶ's Fisher Library

ullahnor — Thu, 12 Jan 2017 23:01:35 +0000

Undead or unexplained? Photos, books on the paranormal at �鶹��Ƶ's Fisher Library

ullahnor Thu, 01/12/2017 - 18:01

Cutline

Fisher Library’s collection of paranormal literature explores everything from spirit photography to seances (photo by Romi Levine)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

While modern science helps us understand the world around us, it’s the unexplained that really captures our imagination.

University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is celebrating our fascination with otherworldly beings in an exhibit called “Investigating the Paranormal,” on display until the end of January.

Curated by Fisher librarian Chris Young and archivist Natalya Rattan, the display draws from a collection of more than 1,500 items from the 18th century until today. The collection was donated by �鶹��Ƶ alumnus Adam Crabtree, a former Catholic priest who has been interested for awhile in paranormal experiences.

The collection, which also available online, includes illustrated books, fictional pieces, journals and important literature pertaining to psychical research, which is the study of the paranormal.

This first edition of Puysegur’s work, is signed by the author. It’s of the most valuable books in the collection (photo by Romi Levine)

Crabtree was a Benedictine monk but decided to leave the monastery while studying philosophy at �鶹��Ƶ.

After finishing his studies, he became a psychotherapist and began to explore paranormal phenomenon.

“I used hypnosis or trance states to make the work more effective in exploring the inner life of my clients, and in the process, I became very interested in understanding how hypnosis came to be and how the unusual things that were being revealed about the unconscious life of human beings came to light,” he says.

Crabtree’s collection includes books about the paranormal with interesting illustrated bindings (photo by Romi Levine)

Crabtree was attracted to the works of psychical research’s forefathers – Franz Anton Mesmer and his pupil Marquis de Puysegur.

“Puyesgur explored how people talked and what view of the world they had when they were in a mesmerized state,” says Crabtree.

This is the first illustration of a séance from the 18th century. It may even depict Mesmer himself (third from left). Patients are grasping iron rods protruding from the water. They applied them to ailing body parts, to transfer therapeutic magnetism to their bodies (photo by Romi Levine)

Though psychical research is considered a fringe science today, that wasn’t always the case, says Young.

“When it was starting off in the 19th century, people used contemporary scientific methods for it,” he says. “The problem at the time was there wasn’t enough evidential proof that these paranormal activities were actually happening. That’s why it never took hold as a scientific discipline along the lines of chemistry, biology.”

Mainstream fascination in the paranormal also began in the 1800s with social events meant to conjure spirits such as seances and table turning.

Spiritualist events like table turning were popular in the 19th century (photo by Romi Levine)

“Table turning is a type of a seance. Allegedly spirits are communicating with you, but somebody was probably turning it with their foot – who knows? It’s kind of like a ouija board,” says Rattan.

Early photographers also claimed to have captured paranormal phenomenon – a trend explored in the Fisher exhibit.

Ectoplasm is a substance that is said to be visible on mediums when photographed (photo by Romi Levine)

“Photography was fairly new and involved a lot of chemicals to be able to reproduce the photographs,” says Young. “So people would take photographs, and there would be this mirror image of a face or other types of lighting that had been captured and people couldn’t explain it.”

Rattan adds that people at the time thought the likenesses that appeared were people that had died who were important to them.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a member of the Society for Psychical Research (photo by Romi Levine)

Psychical research was so popular in the 19th century that well-known figures like Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle embraced it.

The topic may not be as readily embraced today, but Crabtree’s collection is beginning to spark interest: �鶹��Ƶ scholars and even an American PhD student have looked into it.

Can you see the ghostly faces in this photo? Spirits are alleged to have been captured on camera (photo by Romi Levine)

Calling all student chefs: �鶹��Ƶ preps for the Iron Chef cook-off against Yale, McGill and other universities

geoff.vendeville — Fri, 06 Jan 2017 17:07:49 +0000

Calling all student chefs: �鶹��Ƶ preps for the Iron Chef cook-off against Yale, McGill and other universities

geoff.vendeville Fri, 01/06/2017 - 12:07

Cutline

Last year, a University of Toronto team prepared an appetizer of seared salmon, among other delicacies, at the inter-university Iron Chef competition. �鶹��Ƶ is hosting the contest this year (all photos courtesy of Susan Duncan)

Geoffrey Vendeville

Author legacy

Geoffrey Vendeville

Topic

The University of Toronto is hosting an inter-university Iron Chef cook-off next month, and it’s looking for four talented student chefs to step up to the plate.

"We're looking for students for whom cooking is a hobby, a passion and their love," said Anne Macdonald, the university's director of ancillary services.

Read the online application

Like the Iron Chef competitions on TV – in Japan and America – the contestants will receive a mystery box of ingredients, which they must use to prepare a dish and impress the judges – all within a two-hour time limit.

Not only that, they will have to make 10 portions of each course for the judges to sample and another 50 portions for students to taste. The teams will be judged on criteria like cleanliness, teamwork and, of course, the food itself.

For the first time, �鶹��Ƶ will have the home-kitchen advantage. Although the details of the event are still being ironed out, the contest will be held in February, Macdonald said.

Students who would like to participate can be part time or full time at U of T. They need to be available for regular practice sessions of one evening per week for six to eight weeks prior to the competition, and they need to be available on Feb. 24, 25 and 26.

Candidates also need to have a working knowledge of basic cooking techniques. The deadline to apply has been extended to Jan. 13.

In the run-up to the competition, the �鶹��Ƶ contestants will get training sessions with Chef Jaco Lokker, �鶹��Ƶ's director of culinary operations and executive chef.

Read the Maclean's story about Chef Jaco reinventing food served on campus

Chef Jaco Lokker, �鶹��Ƶ's director of culinary operations and executive chef, poses with �鶹��Ƶ's team at the Iron Chef competition at the University of Ottawa last year

Before coming to �鶹��Ƶ, Lokker worked in the kitchens of the King Edward Hotel, the Islington Golf Club and the Boulevard Club.

The winner of many culinary awards, Lokker also has live competition experience: he has twice travelled to the World Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany, earning second place in 2000 and two gold medals in 2002.

Read a Q&A with Chef Jaco in The Globe and Mail

“It’s not just a job for him. He really, really is passionate about food,” said Macdonald. “Spending a few weeks hanging out with him in the kitchen is an experience of a lifetime.

“Students will not only learn how to hold a knife but a great appreciation for ingredients and how to put them together."

In the training sessions, students will learn everything from knife skills to how to properly poach a fish.

The pressure is on �鶹��Ƶ, which has never won before and has the additional responsibility of hosting.

Although the students will prepare with Lokker, once the competition begins, each team is on its own. The contenders this year are the University of Massachussetts Amherst, the University of Ottawa, Yale University and McGill University, which was a gold medal winner in the past.

"They all have great chefs so it's stiff competition," Macdonald said.

The teams are usually required to prepare an appetizer, main course and dessert. Last year, �鶹��Ƶ's student chefs prepared an appetizer of seared salmon with apple citrus slaw and vanilla beurre blanc sauce, garnished with crispy leeks.

�鶹��Ƶ's appetizer last year in the inter-university Iron Chef competition: seared salmon on an apple citrus slaw

Their main dish was a roasted lamb loin with a couscous and chickpea fritter with raw zucchini twirls.

Although they produced an enticing menu last year, �鶹��Ƶ may have to try even harder this time to finish first and claim bragging rights.

See a Q&A with the students who participated in the 2016 inter-university Iron Chef competition

Professor Scott Mabury reappointed as �鶹��Ƶ's vice-president, university operations and vice-provost, academic operations

lanthierj — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 15:20:10 +0000

Professor Scott Mabury reappointed as �鶹��Ƶ's vice-president, university operations and vice-provost, academic operations

lanthierj Wed, 01/04/2017 - 10:20

Cutline

Scott Mabury: “I’m quite proud that we as an institution have adopted the most energy efficiency standards of any universities of which we are aware” (photo by Steve Frost)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

As a professor of environmental chemistry, Scott Mabury is one of the most highly cited scholars in his field.

And, as the University of Toronto’s vice-president of university operations and vice-provost, academic operations, Professor Mabury is also one of �鶹��Ƶ’s most highly sought decision-makers.

Mabury was already serving as vice-provost, academic operations when the University created the position of vice-president, university operations and appointed Mabury to the role on Jan. 1, 2012. On Dec. 15, Governing Council reappointed Mabury as vice-president and vice-provost for another five-year term.

“Under Professor Mabury’s leadership, the University Operations portfolio has executed on an impressive number of initiatives across a wide spectrum of activity,” President Meric Gertler said in a statement. “His mantra has been ‘out-of-the-box thinking with off-the-shelf practicality.’”

Mabury’s achievements include:

• Creating the Utilities Reduction Revolving Fund, which has seen many divisions save money by reducing energy use

• Saving $54 million last year – a year ahead of schedule – through retrofits to improve operations and maximize efficiency

• Creating entrepreneurial space in the Banting & Best buildings for �鶹��Ƶ-affiliated startups

• Receiving $84 million in federal strategic investment funding for rehabilitation of almost half of our research space including major projects at �鶹��Ƶ Mississauga and �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough

• Negotiating a 20-per-cent equity stake at MaRS, recruiting JLABS to occupy part of the space and overseeing construction of the new Law building – on schedule and on time.

“Professor Mabury has demonstrated a tremendous capacity to improve the work of the University while at the same time exercising prudent management of our limited resources,” President Gertler said.

Mabury is the only academic in this role at a Canadian university.

And he says it’s the scholarly part of his brain – specifically, chemistry – that helps the administrative side find efficiencies in day-to-day operations at �鶹��Ƶ.

“In chemistry, from a scholarship perspective, we think about the architecture of molecules and how the different atoms fitting together will alter their properties,” Mabury said. “To do that, we need to understand how things work, and usually in chemistry, we want to improve the efficiency of a reaction with higher yields.

“So optimizing how things work is a theme that exports out of chemistry into this job. I find it an engaging exercise to optimize how things work with a clear mind to what the overall goal is.”

The overall goal is returning saved dollars to the classroom.

One project that touches every student, and most faculty and administrative staff, is the multi-year Next Generation Student Information Services (NGSIS). For the past six years, Mabury has co-sponsored NGSIS with the Vice-Provost Students.

“This program has dramatically enhanced student experience,” said Robert Cook, the University’s former chief information officer. “Scott drove us to first stabilize the performance of existing services and then introduce dozens of innovations such as the integrated ACORN interface, and tools like Degree Explorer and a Financial Planning Calculator.

“Scott has championed �鶹��Ƶ's collaboration with other universities to explore new ways of doing things and to save costs. His commitment to value has driven NGSIS and everything done across his portfolio.”

Those who work under Mabury are amazed at everything he can get done in a given day.

“He has this magical additional 24 hours that none of us have,” said Elizabeth Cragg, who is the director of the office of the vice-president of university operations. “And he trusts us to do our best job, which is empowering. If he wasn’t a professor, he would have made an amazing preacher.

“You just want to follow him. He’s the Pied Piper.”

Mabury’s work schedule now begins at 7 a.m., to cram in meetings that no longer fit into a schedule that once began at 8. His portfolio oversees 1,650 employees across three campuses, departments that range from food services to IT, facilities, capital projects and campus planning.

Supporting the provost, he helps to put together the University’s annual operating budget and multi-year budget plans.

And his academic life includes regular meetings with graduate students, a graduate-level course he partially teaches and PhD dissertations to review.

On a personal note, he and his Riverdale neighbours recently sponsored a Syrian refugee family who lived in his home for a month.

If that wasn’t enough, he also has a farm 1½ hours east of the city where he goes every weekend to plant seeds, practice no-till farming and get his hands dirty.

“It’s part of the work-life balance,” he said in a recent interview with �鶹��Ƶ News. “Lots of brain work here, and then lots of physical work there.”

From his office tucked into a loft-like corner in Simcoe Hall, surrounded by his daughter’s paintings, Mabury talked about his vision and what’s ahead for the University.

“I’m quite proud that we as an institution have adopted the most energy efficiency standards of any universities of which we are aware,” he said. “That was something we did in the spring after the presidential response to the divestment report. It will demonstratively make a difference. We will change how we design and build buildings to make them more energy efficient.”

Sally Garner, executive director of planning and budget at �鶹��Ƶ, said Mabury brings a “creative and forward-thinking approach” to the budget process.

“He has contributed enormously to the University’s ability to grapple with the many financial challenges currently being faced by all public universities,” Garner said. “He has a particular ability to strategically connect the academic and financial dots and to articulate critical budget messages to the broader University community.

“Rarely a week goes by when Professor Mabury doesn’t bring a new idea to the table.”

For the future, Mabury will be focused on development of the University’s real estate. At Spadina Avenue and Bloor Street, �鶹��Ƶ is exploring developing retail, office, residential and academic space. In the Huron Sussex community to the west of Robarts Library, the University is working with its neighbours and planning residences for undergrads, grads and townhouses – hoping to contribute to affordable housing in the city.

“We’re going to build 10 to 12 faculty townhouses there because we hear the challenges of deans and recruiting faculty,” he said. “New faculty would love to be close to where they’re kick-starting their careers.”

Mabury hopes by developing real estate assets, the University can produce annual revenues that match the endowment payout of about $60 million – money that would be channelled back to the classroom.

Perhaps one of the most prominent initiatives Mabury will spearhead – one that will touch many Torontonians – will be the transformation of �鶹��Ƶ’s downtown Toronto campus,

“The most important project that we’re involved with is pedestrianizing the historic core and returning it to people as opposed to cars,” Mabury said. “Our heritage assets that you see – Convocation Hall, Hart House, the grand stately University College and Croft Chapter House – the view and connection with those buildings for faculty, staff and students is obstructed by cars and roads.

“We want to remove that obstruction and prioritize pedestrians and bicyclists.”

Why you should live, work, study and invest in Toronto. Seriously.

ullahnor — Tue, 13 Dec 2016 18:01:32 +0000

Why you should live, work, study and invest in Toronto. Seriously.

ullahnor Tue, 12/13/2016 - 13:01

Jennifer Robinson

Author legacy

Jennifer Robinson

Topic

Global Lens

�鶹��Ƶ

Research & Innovation

Artificial Intelligence

Subheadline

Toronto's ecosystem of hospitals, research, innovation and entrepreneurship combined with its spirit of diversity and inclusion makes it the place to be in 2017

You may know Toronto as "the 6ix," the much-loved home of Drake and the Weeknd, or the place Prince Harry visits to see his girfriend. But there's so much more to this city, experts say.

The latest blog post from �鶹��Ƶ's Richard Florida extols the virtues of the city: diverse ethnic neighborhoods, great schools, low crime, great music scene and health care for everyone.

Toronto “is more like a smaller, friendlier New York or London than any other city I have been to,” Professor Florida writes. “It has a local government working to improve the city’s resilience, increase cycling infrastructure, build more affordable housing, and create more parks. It is a center of finance, media, entertainment, food and tech.”

Florida, director of the Martin Prosperity Institute, writes that no one is threatening to keep out immigrants or build a wall in Toronto. Instead Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose a cabinet reflective of the country's diversity. He mentions the vibrant urban tech cluster of startups and creative enterprises at �鶹��Ƶ and how the university now ranks in the top 25 universities globally and among the top five public universities in North America.

Read Florida's blog: Trump got you down?

And just this week, Versant Ventures and Bayer AG announced a US$225 million startup devoted to stem cell therapies– one of the largest investments the biotech world has ever seen –positioning Toronto as a world leader in the development of regenerative medicine therapy.

As one of the investors remarked “Why Canada? Why Toronto? The answer is simple. We go where the science is best.”

Below �鶹��Ƶ News lays out a few more reasons why Toronto, with the help of �鶹��Ƶ, is becoming the place to be.

�鶹��Ƶ Professors Yu-Ling Cheng (at left) and Mark Kortschot (second from left) with Bill Gates (right). A team led by Cheng won third place in a challenge by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create a waterless, hygienic toilet for the developing world (photo courtesy of Cheng)

Researchers who are making the world a better place

Thousands of researchers are hard at work to find solutions to a number of globally important issues like Stanley Slotkin and Yu-Ling Cheng, who are participating in tonight’s Saving the World: Innovative, Sustainable Development at the University of Toronto student recruitment event in New York City.

�鶹��Ƶ’s pedestrian-friendly street seeks major revival

ullahnor — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 17:53:16 +0000

�鶹��Ƶ’s pedestrian-friendly street seeks major revival

ullahnor Mon, 11/21/2016 - 12:53

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Rendering of the St. George entry plaza (photo illustrations courtesy of DTAH)

Rachel Halpern

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Rachel Halpern

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Imagine shooting hoops on a court between classes, sitting under an endless tree canopy during lunch, or catching an impromptu musical performance in the heart of �鶹��Ƶ's downtown Toronto campus.

With the Willcocks Common Revitalization, students may soon enjoy expanded pedestrian-friendly spaces.

Beginning as a pilot project, Willcocks Common became a pedestrian-only area between Huron and St. George streets in 2012. The project could see an extension of that pedestrian-only zone to Spadina Avenue or the creation of a street that has both car and pedestrian friendly spaces.

The redesign project is set to revitalize Willcocks Street with the help of landscape consultant team, DTAH.

Rendering of Willcocks Common from Spadina

The new design aims to unify the space and create a distinguished student hub. The plans, which were unveiled at a recent �鶹��Ƶ open house, include social gathering spaces and seasonal event space. Improved lighting will also be provided in response to concern from the community for increased public safety at night.

The revitalization project at Willcocks Common has received media interest.

Read "Toronto is getting a gorgeous new pedestrian mall" at BlogTO

Read "Public Realm Redesign in the Works for �鶹��Ƶ's Willcocks Street" at Urban Toronto

Intersection of Elm Grove Avenue and Huron Street

The use of greenery plays a significant part in reimagining the urban landscape, as demonstrated through the use of a new tree canopy. To encourage student use, the space will feature additional seating for informal meetings and flexible space for events.

Site Plan for Willcocks Common

Phase one of the project, involving design concepts and gathering feedback from the community, has official wrapped up.

Phase two will include detailed design development and construction. The timeline is still to be determined.

Rendering of Willcocks Common

Much Ado backstage: how a science grad landed at �鶹��Ƶ’s Hart House Theatre

lavende4 — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 18:31:31 +0000

Much Ado backstage: how a science grad landed at �鶹��Ƶ’s Hart House Theatre

lavende4 Fri, 11/11/2016 - 13:31

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Lucy McPhee: time management skills necessary in science and in theatre (photo by Scott Gorman)

Arthur Kaptainis

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Arthur Kaptainis

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Lucy McPhee entered �鶹��Ƶ with wide eyes and an ambition shared by many undergrads: to become a doctor.

So how did the double major in biochemistry and neuroscience, who graduated last June, end up as the stage manager of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing at the Hart House Theatre?

She says the migration from laboratory to stage was gradual. She was fine with science coursework but less enamoured of the data-input duties that clinical studies entailed.

“It’s very hands on,” she explained backstage. “That’s what I really like.”

Feeling nostalgic for the extracurricular theatre and choir activities she enjoyed in high school, McPhee approached the Hart House Theatre late in her second year. As a University College student, she also volunteered for the UC Follies. But not as a performer.

“I don’t like being on stage in front of people at all,” McPhee said. “I don’t want to be looked at. But I really like being part of the production and seeing all the parts that make it work.”

McPhee thinks her grounding in science helped her as a young theatre professional.

“You have to have time-management skills,” she said. “In labs, it’s all about recovering information, knowing what has happened at every moment. So when you write the lab report you can say, ‘Oh, at this time it was like this.’

“It is similar in the theatre. You have to know that in this scene, at this time, this person is standing here. And they have this prop, and they’re wearing this costume.”

While the position of stage manager might conjure an image of someone scurrying behind the curtain and yelling “five minutes!,” McPhee in fact spends much of her time at a control panel.

As an assistant stage manager she became well acquainted with on-stage mishaps, including wardrobe malfunctions. Duelling and scuffling were abundant in the 2014 Hart House production of Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).

“So many Shakespearean doublets,” McPhee recalled. “I probably sewed every button on.”

While the director is formally in charge during rehearsals, the stage manager has the unstated duty of making sure that people are present and paying attention.

“After the show starts running, it becomes your show,” McPhee explains. “In some professional situations, they have a formal handing over for duties, with everyone on stage.”

Personal interaction, in McPhee’s view, is what most distinguishes the theatre from the laboratory.

“This aspect doesn’t really exist in the sciences,” she says. “It’s very much a solitary field. I’ve always liked working with people.”

Her philosophy: respect begets respect. “Some people believe that actors are like children and have to be coddled. I think if you treat people like adults, they’ll step up to that.”

Doug Floyd, general manager of the Hart House Theatre, regards McPhee as a natural.

“She gets the job done with a quiet confidence that builds trust with a company. This is what the very best stage managers do. Lucy has that gift.”

He also regards McPhee as part of the Hart House Theatre family.

“Lucy as a student fully immersed herself into the environment. She had the opportunity to work with some really terrific stage managers and absorbed that information and know-how like a sponge.

“Drama or theatre may not have been part of her academic pursuits at �鶹��Ƶ but she left learning a trade, a craft. This is experiential learning at its best.”

"Much Ado About Nothing" plays until Nov. 19 at the Hart House Theatre.

�鶹��Ƶ

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�鶹��Ƶ’s pedestrian-friendly street seeks major revival

Read "Toronto is getting a gorgeous new pedestrian mall" at BlogTO

Read "Public Realm Redesign in the Works for �鶹��Ƶ's Willcocks Street" at Urban Toronto

Much Ado backstage: how a science grad landed at �鶹��Ƶ’s Hart House Theatre