Trinity’s 2018 Awards of Excellence Winners

Posted: March 14, 2018

Each year, the University of Toronto presents the Awards of Excellence to outstanding faculty, staff and students. Recipients of these prestigious awards exemplify a commitment to high achievements and to enhancing the university experience for their peers. We are proud to announce that included among this year’s U of T Awards of Excellence winners and finalists are four students and alumni of Trinity College.

Trinity Alum Prof. Aisha Ahmad: Northrop Frye Award (Faculty)

Aisha AhmadTrinity alum Prof. Aisha Ahmad (photo right), a professor in the Department of Political Science at U of T Scarborough, wins the Northrop Frye Award, given to faculty members whose curriculum innovations enhance the student experience. She is an award-winning scholar of political Islam and international security, and she is deeply committed to helping students become engaged international citizens. Ahmad organizes extra-curricular learning opportunities ranging from lunches connecting students with mentors to events helping students grapple with rising anti-Muslim rhetoric, such as a debriefing session after the 2016 American election. Students love her methods for teaching how to read and analyze scientific research, and the engaging classroom exercises she uses to bring political theory to life.

“The Northrop Frye Award, of all the Awards of Excellence at the University of Toronto, is a celebration of all the outstanding students that we have, and the privilege that we have to invite them into the research process at a very high level,” says Prof. Aisha Ahmad.

“I’m honoured to have been nominated not only by faculty, but also by outstanding students who have been instrumental in making my research not only of service to the community, but cutting edge in the field that I study,” she says. “It’s not every university that has this calibre of students, ones that bring a global perspective to the challenges that we face. In the field of international security, we need students who can bring a global lens to problems.”

Trinity Student Riam Kim-McLeod: John H. Moss Scholarship

This award provides up to $16,650 to a final-year student in the Faculty of Arts & Science who plans to go on to graduate study. Riam Kim-McLeod, a double-major in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations and International Relations at Trinity College, is planning a career in counterterrorism and a post-graduate professional degree in conflict studies. “In first year I was in the Trinity One program and I wrote a paper on the radicalization of women, particularly by the Islamic State. That kick-started my interested in terrorism, specifically, and counter-radicalization. I chose the major in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations because of that, so I’m learning Arabic. I’ll be going on to King’s College in London to take terrorism studies.”

Riam has already studied abroad at both Sciences Po (the Paris Institute of Political Studies), and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her professors praise her academic excellence, precise thinking, vision and leadership in student organizations. Riam plays rugby and water polo, and volunteers helping refugees through U of T’s Near and Middle Eastern Civilization Cultural Exchange and Support Initiative and at the Red Cross. 

Trinity Student Jonathan Dick: UTAA Scholar and Moss Award Finalist

A student at Trinity College, where he is specializing in English and majoring in Literature and Critical Theory, Jonathan Dick is also a dancer, an artist and a playwright. Not only has he earned multiple scholarships for academic achievement, but his directorial debut, Suzanne, won U of T’s Robertson Davies Playwriting Award. Dick was a scholar-in-residence at the Jackman Humanities Institute and has been a leader in student groups such as the Trinity College Dramatic Society. His professors describe him as a perceptive, sophisticated writer and are enthusiastic about his plans to work for an MA and PhD in English poetry.

Trinity Alum Samantha Chiu-Yang Chang: UTAA Graduate Scholar and Sendra Award Finalist

Samantha Chang, a professional musician and a scholar of art history is conducting a cross-disciplinary investigation into the intersection of music and painting in the early-modern period. In just the second year of her doctoral studies, she has already won four major scholarships, and is ahead of schedule for finishing her coursework and beginning her dissertation. Chang has presented nearly a dozen conference papers in the last two years while organizing two international conferences and sitting on multiple U of T committees. She has performed flute internationally and is a fellow of the London College of Music.

Congratulations to these incredible members of the Trinity community! Take a look at all of this year’s U of T Awards of Excellence winners.