For the past 18 years, April has marked the Partners in Higher Education Dinner (PiHED) and as your humble host, we were delighted to be joined by so many guests this year. The event celebrated the hard work of our students, educators, sector partners, and elected officials in the higher education sector this year. We are so grateful to The Honourable Nolan Quinn, Minister of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security for providing opening remarks and to Iyobosa, Faith Ogunkoya, Manager of Black Student Success Centre at McMaster University for providing an insightful keynote. We also recognized Eddy Avila as our Honoured Alumni Award recipient and Sebastien Corrie as our Excellence in Student Advocacy Award recipient, given in honour of Stephanie Ye-Mowe.
The Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance’s Awards for Teaching Excellence recognize educators who excel at unlocking the potential of Ontario’s young people. It is our pleasure to give these remarkable professionals the recognition they deserve. Successfully engaging individuals in education is highly dependent on an instructor’s ability to spark the desire to learn in students. An excellent instructor will be able to drive their students towards learning and discovery, and help them develop the global thinking skills that form the foundation of a high-quality educational experience. With this in mind, the OUSA annually presents its teaching awards to professors selected by their students from each of our member campuses as examples of teaching excellence.
Lee Martin |Brock University
As the founder of Computers4Change, Lee has helped raise over $250,000 to provide schools with much-needed resources. His commitment to students has also been recognized with prestigious honors, including the OTIP Beginning Teacher Award, the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM, and the Brock Faculty of Education Distinguished Graduate Award.
Jim Little| Laurentian University
Jim Little is a Master Lecturer at Laurentian University in the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences. He is also the coordinator of the Outdoor Adventure Leadership program. Drawing upon his considerable field experience in wilderness emergency management, outdoor leadership, and group facilitation, he cultivates dynamic outdoor learning environments for his students. His approach prioritizes experiential learning, enabling students to directly apply theoretical concepts and develop practical competencies through immersive experiences. In short, Jim most likes to guide his students through their outdoor leadership learning environments.
Krista Howarth | McMaster University
Dr. Krista Howarth is a teaching stream faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University and has been teaching for over 15 years. She instructs various courses that delve into the anatomy and physiology of the human body and explore the impact of physical activity on health. Krista's teaching philosophy centers on creating an engaging and supportive learning environment where students can connect with the course material and feel encouraged when faced with challenges. She equips her students with the tools they need to apply their knowledge and skills beyond the classroom. Krista is committed to enhancing the student experience through innovative, inclusive, and pedagogically sound course design. Her excellence in teaching has been recognized with the McMaster University President’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning in 2022, and she has received the McMaster Student Union Teaching Award seven times for her instruction in various Kinesiology courses throughout her career.
Dr. Jordan Harel & Dr. Ana Vakiloroayaei | Ontario Tech University
Dr. Jordan Harel is the recipient of the 2015-2016 Faculty of Social Science and Humanities Teaching Excellence Award. He received his PhD in Sociology from Western University, with his dissertation research focusing on white-collar crime. Prior to pursuing his doctorate, he completed his Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology at the University of Waterloo. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Human Behaviour: Psychological and Social Perspectives from Western University, where he was the recipient of the University of Western Ontario Gold Medal for his undergraduate achievement.
Dr. Ana Vakiloroayaei is a lecturer and lab coordinator in the Faculty of Science. Dr. Ana is a truly exceptional professor who brings warmth, positivity, and unwavering support to her classroom. Students consistently praise her for being approachable, kind, and always willing to help with any questions or concerns. She has a unique ability to connect with each student, taking the time to learn their names and create an environment where everyone feels valued. Her caring nature extends beyond just teaching, ensuring students feel prepared and confident in their studies.
Dr. Ehssan Koupaie | Queen’s University
Before joining Queen’s University, Dr. Ehssan Koupaie was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Koupaie received his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of British Columbia, Canada, in 2017. During his PhD, he collaborated with an interdisciplinary team of researchers from environmental engineering, electrical engineering, and physics disciplines; a collaboration that led to the development of a technology for enhanced bioenergy recovery from municipal biosolids. Currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering teaching in courses including Environmental Biotechnology to a course on Engineering Communications, Ethics and Professionalism. With being a Queen's University Faculty Association Rep, CHEE Advisor, and Leader of the Waste & Wastewater Biorefinery Lab. Dr. Ehssan Koupaie has shown an extraordinary amount of dedication to the Queen's community through teaching, advocating, and providing dedicated mentorship to students. He has been recognized from students to faculty for his efforts as someone with passion, attention to detail, and guidance provided as a thesis supervisor; as well as someone who has been recognized through nominations as a person who motivates students to pursue research and puts in an effort beyond expectations and class time to improve students academic outcomes and learning experience. Cultivating an impact of research and teaching style that presents critical thought, analysis, and understanding into some of todays most pressing scientific developments around Environmental Bio-Engineering with the goal to generate sustainable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient techniques for enhanced conversion of organic waste into bioenergy, biofuels, and value-added chemicals.
Dr. Brenda Smith-Chant | Trent (Durham) University
Dr. Brenda Smith-Chant is a researcher and professor of Trent Durham's department of psychology. She has been a long time member of Trent community, having been an alumni of Trent before becoming a professor. As a researcher, she has a keen interest in cognitive development from the perspective that human experience and education have a fundamental influence on how information is organized in memory. She is currently involved in numerous research projects that seek to measure the impact that social programs have on children. As a professor, she has dedicated her career in providing her students a safe learning environment. An incredibly empathetic person, she has gone above and beyond to help students manage their anxiety. She has given students incredible amounts of patients, she has altered course curriculum for the sake for her students mental health, she has gone as far to bring Sam, a therapy dog to her classes to help students with their anxiety. Brenda, is directly responsible for helping countless students overcome their mental health challenges
Dr. Brian Doucet | University of Waterloo
Dr. Doucet is an Associate Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo with MSc and PhD from Utrecht University. He served as the Canada Research Chair in Urban Change and Social Inclusion from 2017 - 2023. His research examines the intersection of housing, transportation and neighbourhood change, with an emphasis on gentrification, displacement, eviction, transit oriented and adjacent development, non-market housing and social justice. He uses a variety of research methods that render visible patterns, processes and experiences that do not always show up in statistics. I work with many non-profit and local government partners, particularly in southern Ontario. He currently lead five major SSHRC-funded research projects and have published more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles in planning, geography and urban studies. As well as being a regular contributor to broader public and policy debates about housing, transportation and cities. I write regularly for The Conversation and give frequent television, radio and newspaper interviews.
Dr. Kate Graham | Western University
Dr. Kate Graham researches, writes, speaks and teaches about politics, leadership and public policy in Canada. For the past six years, Kate has taught at Huron University (Governance, Leadership & Ethics) and Western University (Local Government Program). In 2021, Kate was awarded the MacNaughton Prize for Excellence in Teaching together with Dr. Neil Bradford. In 2024, she was recognized with the Nelson Heapy Award for Outstanding Faculty Research at Huron. Kate’s research work aims to influence ideas and discussion in the public realm. Her most well-known contribution, NoSecondChances.ca, examined the rise and fall of Canada’s top female political leaders in Canada. This work yielded a popular podcast with Canada 2020 and three books. For the past five years, Kate has supported dozens of local governments across Canada in policy and decision-making, building on a decade of working in local government herself, most recently as the Director, Community & Economic Innovation at the City of London. Kate absolutely loves teaching. Her favourite moments in the classroom are when eyes are wide and hands are up, usually in a lively discussion about a contemporary public policy debate. Kate’s students are her greatest teachers.
Dr. Tandeep Sidhu | Wilfrid Laurier University
Dr. Sidhu is an instructor in Criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. His research interests examine (a) the intersections between race and the criminal justice system and (b) the study of green criminology, emphasizing the social harms perpetrated against large keystone species in the Plains and Northern Rockies. As a critical criminologist, Dr. Sidhu’s commitment to human rights and dismantling interlocking systems of oppression are reflected in his teaching approach. He has instructed an array of courses at the undergraduate level, including large lectures at the introductory level and specialized fourth-year seminars. His approach to teaching prioritizes student skills development in writing, research methods, theory, and data analysis. Relying on an arts-based and intersectional teaching approach, Dr. Sidhu’s courses encourage students to reflect on their social location and how this influences their understanding of the social world. Having begun his career amidst the COVID pandemic, Dr. Sidhu acknowledged the importance of student engagement and the co-creation of knowledge in the educational space, offering his students a space in which they actively shape their learning outcomes.
Congratulations to all the award winners! We hope all of our guests had a wonderful time.