Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Michael Baker, Derek Messacar and Mark Stabile win Doug Purvis Memorial Prize

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 19:55:21 +0000

Michael Baker, Derek Messacar and Mark Stabile win Doug Purvis Memorial Prize

Research & Innovation

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 07/16/2024 - 15:55

Faculty

St. George

Department of Economics

Faculty of Arts & Science

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Rotman School of Management

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(L-R) Derek Messacar, Michael Baker and Mark Stabile (supplied images)

A research team led by Michael Baker, a professor in the department of economics in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has been awarded the Canadian Economics Association’s Doug Purvis Memorial Prize.

The annual award recognizes the authors of significant contributions to Canadian economic policy.

Baker shares the honour with Derek Messacar, doctoral alum of the department of economics and an associate professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Mark Stabile, former faculty member at the Rotman School of Management and the founding director of what would become the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, who currently serves as a professor and dean of degree programmes and the Europe campus at INSEAD, a business school based in Fontainebleau, France.

The trio was recognized for their paper "Effects of Child Tax Benefits on Poverty and Labor Supply: Evidence from the Canada Child Benefit and Universal Child Care Benefit," which was published in the Journal of Labor Economics.

Baker said he was “honoured” by the recognition. “I knew Doug Purvis briefly at the start of my career and have learned what a positive contribution he made to the economics profession in Canada,” he said. “It is also a pleasure to share this award with a former colleague here at the department and a graduate of our PhD program. I have worked on many projects with both Mark and Derek over the years.”

“It’s gratifying for our department to see Michael, Mark and Derek recognized for their investigations into child poverty alleviation programs,” said Professor Ettore Damiano, chair of the department of economics. “It is very important work, and I am pleased to congratulate all the members of Michael’s team for this award.”

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Lynette Ong recognized with multiple awards for latest book

lanthierj — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 17:32:58 +0000

Lynette Ong recognized with multiple awards for latest book

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Fri, 09/22/2023 - 13:32

Faculty

St. George

Department of Political Science

Faculty of Arts & Science

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

landscape

Lynette Ong (supplied image)

A book by Lynette Ong that examines China’s inner workings has won the American Sociological Association (ASA)’s Gordon Hirabayashi Human Rights Book Award 2023 and has been named co-winner of the ASA’s Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship in Political Sociology, 2023.

They're the latest in a series of honours for Ong, who received the International Studies Association’s 2023 Human Rights Section Best Book Award earlier this year as well as the 2023 American Political Science Association’s Human Rights Best Book Award.

A professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of political science with a cross-appointment to the Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Ong has been conducting research on the ground in China since the 1990s, with a particular interest in how the country’s political and economic systems interact. Outsourcing Repression: Everyday State Power in Contemporary China is her third book. Published by Oxford University Press, it examines the use of non-state actors, including paid and unpaid community members and gangsters, to drive urbanization across the country by engaging in low-level violent and non-violent tactics.

Ong says she is in awe of the ordinary citizens who allowed her into their lives while she was researching the book.

“I learned so much about why people would throw away everything they have to protest an authoritarian regime. I spent a lot of time with them, and I felt I had to get their story right,” she says. “I spent 20 years in school trying to understand how social movements work, but they just intuitively get it. My admiration for them is genuine.”

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Sarah Beamish and Christine Wadsworth receive Precedent Setter Award

siddiq22 — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 19:37:06 +0000

Sarah Beamish and Christine Wadsworth receive Precedent Setter Award

Community

siddiq22 Mon, 07/10/2023 - 15:37

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

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Sarah Beamish and Christine Wadsworth (supplied images)

Sarah Beamish and Christine Wadsworth, alumnae of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, have each received the Precedent Setter Award.

Created by Toronto’s Precedent magazine, the award recognizes lawyers in their first 10 years of practice who have demonstrated excellence and leadership.

Beamish, who graduated in 2015 from �鶹��Ƶ’s joint juris doctor (JD) and master of global affairs (MGA) program in the Faculty of Law and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, is the principal of Beamish Law, a wide-ranging civil-ligation practice with a special interest in advocacy, equity and justice.

Beamish, who was previously named the youngest-ever chair of Amnesty International, also lectures in the MGA program at the Munk School.

“As a lawyer, you have this form of knowledge and power and access that’s unlike anything else,” she told Precedent. “I can’t squander that.”

Wadsworth, who graduated from the JD program in 2013, is a litigation partner at McCarthy Tétrault LLP in Toronto. The magazine named her a “Bay Street superstar” for her defense work in high-stakes litigation.

Wadsworth has also taught trial advocacy at �鶹��Ƶ and co-directs her firm’s partnership with the faculty's community legal clinic and clinical legal education program, Downtown Legal Services, providing pro bono legal counsel to low-income individuals facing criminal charges.

“Access to justice, especially in criminal-justice cases, is a continuing problem,” she told Precedent. “My first pro bono client had a number of criminal charges hanging over his head. When I successfully got them dropped, it had a powerful impact on me.”

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Five Faculty of Arts & Science professors recognized with Dean's Research Excellence Awards

lanthierj — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 22:25:43 +0000

Five Faculty of Arts & Science professors recognized with Dean's Research Excellence Awards

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Mon, 12/12/2022 - 17:25

Faculty

St. George

Faculty of Arts & Science

Department of Psychology

Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Department of Political Science

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Department of Linguistics

Department of Physics

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The five recipients of this year’s Dean’s Research Excellence Award (L-R): Megan Frederickson, Kaley Walker, Naomi Nagy, Randall Hansen and Wil Cunningham

Wil Cunningham, Megan Frederickson, Randall Hansen, Naomi Nagy and Kaley Walker are the first recipients of a new award from the Faculty of Arts & Science created to recognize faculty members whose research achievements have been cited as especially noteworthy.

The Dean’s Research Excellence Award was established with the aim of helping accomplished mid-career researchers compete successfully in national awards competitions. Winners have contributed a wealth of research that has had a significant and sustained influence in their chosen disciplines.

The winners represent a wide range of fields: Cunningham is a professor in the department of psychology, Frederickson is a professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology, Hansen is a professor in the department of political science, Nagy is a professor in the department of linguistics and Walker is a professor in the department of physics.

“It is with enormous pride that I announce the inaugural winners of the Dean’s Research Excellence Awards,” says Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “The scholars we honour this year are widely recognized as having made an important and ongoing impact on research in their respective fields. As the very first recipients of these annual awards, they set a shining example for those who will follow them.”

The five honourees will each receive $10,000 to further their professional development.

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Dan Breznitz awarded 2021 Donner Prize

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 19:55:33 +0000

Dan Breznitz awarded 2021 Donner Prize

Research & Innovation

Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 06/08/2022 - 15:55

Faculty

St. George

Donner Prize

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Faculty of Arts & Science

landscape

Dan Breznitz (photo by Lisa Sakulensky)

University Professor Dan Breznitz has won the 2021 Donner Prize for his book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World, published by Oxford University Press.

The $50,000 prize is awarded annually by the Donner Canadian Foundation to Canadian authors who showcase excellence and innovation in public policy.

“I am truly humbled by this honour,” said Breznitz, who is the Munk Chair of Innovation Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, with a cross-appointment to the department of political science in the Faculty of Arts & Science. “We have an amazing country and a thriving society – it is time we make sure Canadians can excel in Canada and make Canada excel in turn, without having to leave it.”

The Donner Prize jury called Innovation in Real Places “essential reading for anyone interested in policy, industry, science, finance, competition, and regional development.”

One of the many strengths of the book is the differentiation between invention and innovation. Breznitz focuses on diverse types of innovation and the role of governments to facilitate – and not impede – the innovation process,” said the jury, which was chaired by David Dodge, former governor of the Bank of Canada. “There is little doubt that innovation is a key driver of economic progress, and Breznitz offers a clear explanation of the range of factors at play that can help or hinder the growth of an innovation economy.”

Breznitz co-directs the Munk School’s Innovation Policy Lab and co-leads CIFAR’s program on innovation, equity and the future of prosperity. Breznitz is currently serving as the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist in the federal department of finance.

2022 Awards of Excellence recognize members of �鶹��Ƶ community

lanthierj — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 17:28:56 +0000

2022 Awards of Excellence recognize members of �鶹��Ƶ community

Community

lanthierj Thu, 04/07/2022 - 13:28

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Department of English

Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Division of People Strategy

Equity & Culture

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Faculty of Arts & Science

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Faculty of Law

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Office of the Vice-President and Provost

OISE

�鶹��Ƶ Libraries

�鶹��Ƶ Scarborough

landscape

The University of Toronto has announced the winners of the 2022 Awards of Excellence, a prestigious program presented annually in collaboration with the University of Toronto �鶹��Ƶ Association to recognize outstanding faculty, librarians, staff and students.

“This year's honourees represent the incredible breadth and depth of excellence found across our three campuses,” President Meric Gertler said in his address to the winners. “They are being recognized for their dedication to others and to our collective success, as well as for their own outstanding accomplishments.

“To our award winners, you are all doing great work. You make us proud and your example is an inspiration to all of us.”

This year’s winners are:

Faculty

Vivek Goel Faculty Citizenship Award

Professor Glen A. Jones, department of leadership, adult and higher education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Educations and Professor Robert M. Wright, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design

Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize – Influential Leader

Professor Andrea Most, department of English, Faculty of Arts & Science and Professor Ann Lopez, department of leadership, adult and higher education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Carolyn Tuohy Impact on Public Policy Award

Professor Adalsteinn Brown, dean of Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Northrop Frye Faculty Award

Associate Professor Adam Hammond, department of English, Faculty of Arts & Science

Joan E. Foley Quality of Student Experience Award

Associate Professor Matthew Mackay, department of mechanical and industrial engineering, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

Librarians

President’s Excellence Award – Influential Excellence

Fabiano Takashi Rocha, metadata services, �鶹��Ƶ Libraries

Staff

Jill Matus Excellence in Student Services Award

Shainiya Balachandran, Office of the Dean of Students, Victoria University, and Atifa F. Karim, Division of Student Life, St. George campus

Chancellor’s Leadership Award – Emerging Leader

Cherilyn Nobleza, Division of People Strategy, Equity & Culture

Chancellor’s Leadership Award – Distinguished Leader

Ariana Bradford, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Chancellor’s Leadership Award – Influential Leader

Derek Newton, Innovations & Partnerships Office

President’s Excellence Award – Emerging Excellence

Natasha Christie-Holmes, Emerging and Pandemic Infections Consortium, Ayoob Ghalami, Office of Environmental Health & Safety and Steffen Reinhart, Office of Student Recruitment

President’s Excellence Award – Distinguished Excellence

Mary Choi, Faculty of Dentistry, Daniella Mallinick, Office of the Vice-Provost, Academic Programs and Kim McLean, Faculty of Arts & Science

President’s Excellence Award – Influential Excellence

Pierre Piché, department of financial services

Students

Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize – Emerging Leader

Brenaven Kugamoorthy, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Adel S. Sedra Distinguished Graduate Award

Florence Ashley, Joint Centre for Bioethics, Faculty of Law and Dalla Lana School of Public Health

John H. Moss Scholarship

Katherine Todd, �鶹��Ƶ Scarborough

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Ron Levi recognized with Global Educator Award

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 14:15:29 +0000

Ron Levi recognized with Global Educator Award

Teaching

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 03/18/2022 - 10:15

Faculty

St. George

Faculty of Arts & Science

Global Educator Award

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

landscape

(photo by Alexis MacDonald)

Ron Levi, a professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and in the department of sociology in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has received the University of Toronto Global Educator Award for 2022.

The award recognizes faculty members who embody �鶹��Ƶ’s global mission and whose approach to teaching demonstrates intercultural or global fluency – the ability to successfully operate and communicate within different cultural contexts.

“Professor Levi’s clear commitment to pedagogies that reflect a diversity of perspectives and invite engagement from all students is impressive – and creates the conditions necessary for a truly global learning environment,” says Alexie Tcheuyap, associate vice-president and vice-provost, international student experience, and chair of this year's selection committee.

“I would like to personally thank him for his dedication to equipping �鶹��Ƶ students with the values and cultural agility they will need to effect positive change in the world.”

Levi will be honoured at the university's annual Excellence in Teaching Reception in the fall.

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Dan Breznitz appointed University Professor

lanthierj — Fri, 18 Jun 2021 17:56:04 +0000

Dan Breznitz appointed University Professor

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Fri, 06/18/2021 - 13:56

Faculty

St. George

CIFAR

Department of Political Science

Faculty of Arts & Science

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

University Professor

landscape

Dan Breznitz has been appointed a University Professor, an elite designation bestowed on a small number of University of Toronto faculty members for distinguished scholarly achievement and pre-eminence in their fields.

A professor of political economy at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, with a cross-appointment in the department of political science within the Faculty of Arts & Science, Breznitz is also a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research where he has co-founded and co-directs the program on innovation, equity and the future of prosperity.

“Dan Breznitz is a world-leading expert on rapid-innovation-based industries and their globalization, renowned for his pioneering research on the distributional impact of innovation policies – and the insights he has provided to governments and international organizations on science, technology and innovation policies,” said Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr.

An award-winning author, Breznitz’s first book, Innovation and the State: Political Choice and Strategies for Growth in Israel, Taiwan, and Ireland, won the 2008 Don K. Price for best book on science and technology. His second book (co-authored with Michael Murphree) The Run of the Red Queen: Government, Innovation, Globalization, and Economic Growth in China, was chosen as the 2012 Susan Strange Best Book in International Studies by the British International Studies Association. His most recent book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World, was published by Oxford University Press earlier this year.

“This is a great honor to become a part of a group of scholars I viewed as mentors all my life,” Breznitz said. “I am especially delighted by the fact that my work on the distributional outcomes of innovation and the public policy choices to impact that distribution, has been recognized as an exciting new area of research that the University of Toronto is pioneering.”

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Jillian Sprenger awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship

lanthierj — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 15:18:41 +0000

Jillian Sprenger awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Academic Achievement

lanthierj Mon, 04/19/2021 - 11:18

Faculty of Arts & Science

Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Graduate Students

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

landscape

(Photo courtesy of Jillian Sprenger)

The University of Toronto’s Jillian Sprenger has been named a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

A former John. H. Moss Scholarship winner, Sprenger is one of 74 scholars from 30 countries to receive the prestigious scholarship this year.

“At Cambridge, I'll be pursuing a master of philosophy in environmental policy, with a focus on environmental law,” Sprenger says. “I plan to study how the law at both national and international levels may be used effectively to address the climate crisis.

“We need new and creative ways of addressing this defining challenge of our time, and I think the law will be a powerful tool in this regard. Whether through the pursuit of litigation to hold governments and organizations accountable for their environmental records, or through the creation of legal mandates to enable transition to a net-zero economy, the law may play a vital role in precipitating the wide-reaching societal change we need to protect our planet.”

As an undergraduate at �鶹��Ƶ majoring in global health, Sprenger was part of the Reach Alliance at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. She studied such issues as food insecurity, forced migration, and antimicrobial resistance – conducting research that took her to Myanmar, Taiwan, Ecuador, Ethiopia and Sri Lanka. She will graduate this year with a master of science in biophysics.

Paola Salardi receives University of Toronto Teaching Fellowship

lanthierj — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 20:16:46 +0000

Paola Salardi receives University of Toronto Teaching Fellowship

Teaching

lanthierj Fri, 04/16/2021 - 16:16

Faculty

St. George

Faculty of Arts & Science

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

University of Toronto Teaching Fellowship

landscape

Paola Salardi, an assistant professor, teaching stream, in the Faculty of Arts & Science, has been awarded a 2021-22 University of Toronto Teaching Fellowship.

The director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, Salardi is an applied economist with a focus on economics of conflict, economic development, inequality and political economy.

Salardi’s fellowship project will focus on designing an introductory course to data analysis for students in the peace, conflict and justice program – with the goal of introducing quantitative methods and research to non-specialists in a way that’s engaging and accessible.

“Done well, this new course can be transformative, opening new horizons and possibilities for our students,” says Salardi. “It would provide an offering that is truly unique relative to what is available elsewhere”.

A faculty mentor for the Reach Alliance, Salardi’s research bridges the economics of conflict and the economics of inequality and discrimination. Her pedagogical focus is on developing innovative approaches to teaching economics and data analysis to non-economists.

“We are thrilled that Professor Salardi’s educational leadership is being recognized by the University,” says Cheryl Misak, interim director of the Munk School. “The pedagogical research that she is embarking on, and the broader learning that will result from it, speaks directly to the Munk School’s aspirations in building new and innovative approaches to undergraduate teaching.”

Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

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Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy

Michael Baker, Derek Messacar and Mark Stabile win Doug Purvis Memorial Prize

Read the department of economics story

Lynette Ong recognized with multiple awards for latest book

Read the Faculty of Arts & Science story

Sarah Beamish and Christine Wadsworth receive Precedent Setter Award

Read the Faculty of Law story

Five Faculty of Arts & Science professors recognized with Dean's Research Excellence Awards

See the Faculty of Arts & Science story

Dan Breznitz awarded 2021 Donner Prize

Read more at the Munk School for Global Affairs & Public Policy

2022 Awards of Excellence recognize members of �鶹��Ƶ community

Faculty

Librarians

Staff

Students

Ron Levi recognized with Global Educator Award

Read the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy story

Dan Breznitz appointed University Professor

Jillian Sprenger awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship

Read more about Sprenger

Paola Salardi receives University of Toronto Teaching Fellowship