Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to page-level navigation Go to the Disability Resource Centre Website Go to the DRC Booking Accommodation Portal Go to the Inclusive Technology Lab Website
The University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
UBC Okanagan News
  • Research
  • People
    • Student Profile
    • Faculty Profile
    • Alumni Spotlight
  • Campus Life
    • Campus News
    • Student Life
    • Teaching & Learning
  • Community Engagement
  • About the Collection
    • Stories for Media
  • UBCO Events
  • Search All Stories
Home / 2014 / May / 09 / UBC honours faculty for teaching excellence and innovation

UBC honours faculty for teaching excellence and innovation

May 9, 2014

Mina Hoorfar, associate professor of engineering, and Susan Crichton, associate professor of education

Mina Hoorfar, associate professor of engineering, and Susan Crichton, associate professor of education.

Education professor Susan Crichton, engineering professor Mina Hoorfar recognized

Two inspirational professors from the Okanagan campus were honoured by UBC Thursday with Teaching Excellence and Innovation Awards.

The award recipients are Susan Crichton, associate professor in the Faculty of Education, in the senior faculty category (10 years or more teaching experience), and Mina Hoorfar, associate professor in the School of Engineering, in the junior faculty category (less than 10 years teaching experience).

“Students from across Canada and around the world choose the University of British Columbia because they want a remarkable education enabled by skilled, thoughtful and engaging teachers,” said Cynthia Mathieson, Provost and Vice-Principal Academic.  “I am proud to say that we deliver on this promise every day through our extraordinary educators.

“Teaching and research are the foundations for all our achievements. They build our reputation for excellence, and they are essential in preparing students to be extraordinary — to lead in their fields, and achieve remarkable things with their lives.”

Crichton has made substantial contributions to teaching excellence within the Faculty of Education, across campus, and around the world.  Her area of expertise focuses on technology enhanced learning and research approaches, for which she has won international recognition. She shares this knowledge both at UBC, and through her role as visiting scholar at the Institute of Educational Development at Aga Kahn University in Tanzania and in Pakistan. Crichton is an online mentor for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) project in Afghanistan.

Crichton is a leader in designing the Innovative Learning Centre, a leading facility on innovative uses of technology not only in the Faculty of Education, but also with business and education partners in the Okanagan.

Hoorfar is currently head of the Advanced Thermo-Fluidic Laboratory (ATFL). She has been instrumental in the School of Engineering’s success, developing multiple new courses, arranging student internships with industry, and working to secure awards to support students and their learning. Since 2006, she has supervised 18 undergraduates, seven master’s students and nine PhD candidates, consistently providing students with the tools to achieve excellence in their engineering careers.

Hoorfar has earned plaudits on the Teaching Honour Roll for the past four years. First- and second-year engineering students recognized her excellence with the Pioneer Award for Teaching in 2007, and senior students recognized her with the Mechanical Engineering Teacher of the Year Award in both 2012 and 2013.

The Teaching Excellence and Innovation Awards consist of a $3,000 cash prize and the recipients will be honoured at Convocation. Crichton and Hoorfar join the UBC Okanagan Academy of Teaching Excellence and participate in the selection process for future teaching award nominees.

In addition to the teaching awards, a number of other faculty members were recognized with Honour Roll distinctions, as were outstanding teaching assistants and tutors.

Teaching Honour Roll for Teaching Excellence and Innovation 2013-2014

  • Joan Bassett-Smith, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Nursing
  • Stephen Berg, Faculty of Education
  • John Binfet, Faculty of Education
  • Kenneth Chau, School of Engineering
  • Paul Davies, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 4
  • Fes De Scally, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 7
  • Scott Douglas, Faculty of Education
  • Scott Fazackerley, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 5
  • Mark Holder, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 4
  • Susan Holtzman, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 4
  • Adam Jones, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Janet Kluftinger, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Ramon Lawrence, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Paul D. Lee, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Ping Li, Faculty of Management
  • Jonathon Little, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Health and Exercise Sciences
  • H.B. McCullough, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 8
  • Monic Pratch, Faculty of Management
  • Mark Rheault, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit2
  • Erik Rosolowsky, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Ahmad Rteil, School of Engineering
  • Kathy Rush, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Nursing
  • Abbas Sadeghzadeh Milani, School of Engineering
  • Christopher Schneider, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 6
  • Christine Schreyer, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 1
  • Michael V. Smith, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
  • Blair Spearman, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Ray Taheri-Ardebili, School of Engineering
  • Margo Tamez, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit1
  • Bonny Taylor, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Nursing
  • Paul van Donkelaar, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Health and Exercise Sciences
  • Zachary Walsh, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 4
  • Sally Willis-Stewart, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Health and Exercise Sciences
  • Michael Woodworth, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 4
  • Sonia Zarrillo, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, Unit 1

Provost Award for Teaching Assistants and Tutors 2013-2014

  • Nathalie Hager, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
  • May Kanippayoor, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Jamie McKee-Scott, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
  • Samuel Schaefer, School of Engineering
  • Elham Shamekhi, School of Engineering
  • Carey Simpson, Faculty of Health and Social Development
  • Colin Wallace, Faculty of Health and Social Development
Winners of the Provost award for Teaching Assistants and Tutors are seen with UBC Deputy Vice-Chancellor Deborah Buszard and Provost Cynthia Mathieson, from left: Jamie McKee-Scott, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences; May Kanippayoor, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences; Carey Simpson, Faculty of Health and Social Development; Nathalie Hager, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies; Colin Wallace, Faculty of Health and Social Development; Missing from photo are Samuel Schaefer, School of Engineering and Elham Shamekhi, School of Engineering.

Winners of the Provost award for Teaching Assistants and Tutors are seen with UBC Deputy Vice-Chancellor Deborah Buszard and Provost Cynthia Mathieson, from left: Jamie McKee-Scott, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences; May Kanippayoor, Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences; Carey Simpson, Faculty of Health and Social Development; Nathalie Hager, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies; Colin Wallace, Faculty of Health and Social Development; Missing from photo are Samuel Schaefer, School of Engineering and Elham Shamekhi, School of Engineering.

—30—

Media Contact

Patty Wellborn
E-mail: patty.wellborn@ubc.ca

Content type: Media Release
More content from: College of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, Faculty of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Management, Irving K Barber School of Arts and Sciences (prior July 2020), Okanagan School of Education, School of Engineering, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, School of Nursing

Trending Stories

  • How one student connects AI innovation to wildfire research
  • Robotics, AI advancing wildfire, agricultural research at UBCO
  • Psychedelic mushroom microdoses can improve mood, mental health
  • UBCO professor researches electric passenger light rail for Okanagan Valley
  • Made in Canada breakthrough is a gamechanger in heart valve technology
All Stories
Contact Media Relations

About UBC Okanagan

UBC’s Okanagan campus is an innovative hub for research and learning founded in partnership with local Indigenous peoples, the Syilx Okanagan Nation, in whose traditional, ancestral and unceded territory the campus resides. The most established and influential global rankings all consistently place UBC in the top five per cent of universities in the world, and among the top three Canadian universities.

The Okanagan campus combines a globally recognized UBC education with a tight-knit and entrepreneurial community that welcomes students and faculty from around the world in British Columbia’s stunning Okanagan Valley. For more visit ok.ubc.ca.

Discover more about UBC Okanagan

Find a Program Admissions Book a Tour UBCO Facts
UBC Okanagan Campus News, University Relations

Innovation Precinct Annexation 1 (IA1)
3505 Spectrum Court
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 2Z1

We respectfully acknowledge the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples, in whose traditional, ancestral, unceded territory UBC Okanagan is situated.

 

Search all stories

Subscribe to receive news by email

Visit UBC's Vancouver news room

Global and Admin Messages

News

Okanagan Campus

TikTok icon Linkedin icon

UBC Okanagan News
Okanagan Campus
3333 University Way
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7
Find us on
  
Back to top
The University of British Columbia
  • Emergency Procedures |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Copyright |
  • Accessibility