Faculty & staff awards

Brent Mainprize

2020 3M National Teaching Fellowship

Canada’s most prestigious award for excellence in leadership and teaching. Read more.

Heather Ranson

2019 United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education Excellence Award in Teaching

Based on the United Nations Principles for Responsible Management Education, this award recognizes exceptional commitment to bringing sustainable and socially responsible content into the classroom. Integrating sustainability into student learning is a core tenet of Gustavson’s philosophy, as well as aligning with the UN PRME, and Ranson’s commitment to this practice is evidenced by her continual innovation in the classroom and role as associate director of the school’s Centre for Social and Sustainable Responsibility.

Gustavson is proud to have joined the UN PRME Champions Group, a collective of 39 schools around the world committed to supporting integration of the UN’s sustainable development goals, in 2018.

Read more about Heather Ranson.

Brent Mainprize

2016 Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology

This award is given by the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning (ICCTL). 

Brent Mainprize

2014 Desire2Learn Innovation in Teaching and Learning

This award is given by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) and Desire2Learn Incorporated. It recognizes Mainprize’s dedication, and his particularly innovative approach to teaching and learning.

His innovative approach for teaching entrepreneurship has been operationalized into a web-based software called the Venture Intelligence Quotient (VIQ) that is used in academia, innovation hatcheries and community economic development initiatives in Canada, Italy, Australia, Denmark and China. Read more.

A. R. Elangovan (Elango) 

2012 3M National Teaching Fellowship

“This is a most deserved recognition of Dr. Elangovan’s educational leadership, particularly in the area of internationalization where he has been an outstanding source of vision and guidance to the Gustavson School of Business and to the university,” says UVic President and Vice-Chancellor David Turpin. “Elango’s expertise in organizational behaviour combined with his knowledge of cultural sensitivities and of geopolitics greatly enhance our students’ understanding of international business practices. I am absolutely delighted that he has received Canada’s most prestigious teaching award.”  The award recognizes exceptional achievements and contributions by teacher-scholars across Canada. Elango is the ninth UVic scholar to receive this honour since its inception. Read more.

Brent Mainprize

2019 Provost's Engaged Scholar

For over 20 years, Mainprize has committed to meaningful scholarly engagement with Indigenous communities. He is passionate about leaving an enduring impact in the communities he works with—a vast network of reciprocal partnerships that spans the country. Read more.

Monika Winn

2016 President's Distinguished Service Award for Excellence in Leadership 

“This is a great tribute to the wonderful work that Monika has done both within the school and throughout the university,” says Dr. Saul Klein, dean of the Gustavson School of Business. Since arriving at UVic in 1995 as a business and strategy scholar and instructor, Winn has flown the sustainability flag right across campus and within the Gustavson School of Business. Read more.

Frank Low

2016 University of Victoria Community Leadership Award

The honor acknowledges outstanding leadership in linking UVic and the community for greater public benefit. Established in 2004, the prestigious Victoria Leadership Awards honour the distinguished accomplishments of everyday heroes, recognized for their community leadership, service and achievement. Led by Leadership Victoria, the event is a collaboration with the University of Victoria, the Rotary Clubs of Greater Victoria, the Victoria Foundation, and the United Way Greater Victoria - five partners in recognizing and promoting leadership. Read more.

A.R. (Elango) Elangovan

University of Victoria Distinguished Professor

UVic has appointed Dr. A. R. (Elango) Elangovan, a University of Victoria Distinguished Professor.  This distinction is the highest academic honour UVic can bestow on a faculty member.  The designation was created to highlight remarkable achievement by a faculty member in both teaching and scholarly research.  Fellow faculty member and student comments are taken into consideration when assessing the teaching abilities of distinguished professors, while research must be recognized in the international academic community as being of exceptionally high calibre.

“Elango fits this description perfectly,” says dean Saul Klein “This latest accolade is a wonderful tribute to the extraordinary contributions that he has made to UVic.”

Elango will give a lecture highlighting his research as part of the University’s Distinguished Lecture Series. He will also participate with fellow Distinguished professors on an advisory council, offering advice to the university on ways in which teaching and research can be further integrated and enriched.

UVic has bestowed this honour on only twelve faculty members since the creation of the designation in 2002. Recipients are chosen by the VP Academic Provost, the VP Research and a faculty member who has already been bestowed the title.

Bill Anderson

2015 University of Victoria Community Leadership Award

The honor acknowledges outstanding leadership in linking UVic and the community for greater public benefit. Established in 2004, the prestigious Victoria Leadership Awards honour the distinguished accomplishments of everyday heroes, recognized for their community leadership, service and achievement. Led by Leadership Victoria, the event is a collaboration with the University of Victoria, the Rotary Clubs of Greater Victoria, the Victoria Foundation, and the United Way Greater Victoria - five partners in recognizing and promoting leadership. Read more.

Ana Maria Peredo

2013 University of Victoria Community Leadership Award

The honor acknowledges outstanding leadership in linking UVic and the community for greater public benefit. Established in 2004, the prestigious Victoria Leadership Awards honour the distinguished accomplishments of everyday heroes, recognized for their community leadership, service and achievement. Led by Leadership Victoria, the event is a collaboration with the University of Victoria, the Rotary Clubs of Greater Victoria, the Victoria Foundation, and the United Way Greater Victoria - five partners in recognizing and promoting leadership.

2013 Craigdarroch Award for Excellence in Knowledge Mobilization 

This award recognizes a specific project, product, service or body of work that demonstrates excellence in Knowledge Mobilization (KM), defined as the purposeful communication, exchange and application of knowledge developed through an ongoing process of research and/or creative and artistic endeavour for the benefit of society.

The Harry Hickman Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching and Educational Leadership is the highest award for teaching excellence at the University of Victoria. It bears the name of Harry Hickman who had a distinguished career as a scholar, teacher, and principal of Victoria College. He was acting president of the University of Victoria, and head of the Modern Languages and French departments. This award is open to Regular Faculty at UVic.

Brian Leacock

2018 recipient

Brian Leacock possesses a wealth of experience as a dedicated teacher, an ardent educationalist, and as an expert in cross-cultural management. His contributions to educational leadership include a long history of impact and innovation in teaching methods, curriculum development, assessment technologies and a structured approach to learning about other cultures. One of Brian’s most valued qualities is his compassion: Brian cares deeply and sincerely about his students, and creates a relationship of trust both within and outside the classroom, nurturing the growth of students through mentorship, personalized feedback and a uniquely empathetic approach to teaching and learning in cross-cultural environments. These achievements and more have earned Brian the respect, admiration and gratitude of his colleagues and students – and deservedly, the 2018 UVic Harry Hickman Award for Excellence in Teaching and Educational Leadership.

Brent Mainprize

2016 recipient

Entrepreneurial expert Dr. Brent Mainprize strives to help his students feel the transformational power of education, instead of simply gaining knowledge. Over almost 20 years teaching at UVic, he has continually improved his curriculum to challenge students to be better entrepreneurs, through innovative exercises like the venture challenge (start with $5 and build a business in a month) and creating and pitching a business plan. He is the founder and program director of Northwest Aboriginal Canadian Entrepreneurs (NW-ACE), a program that takes business education to Aboriginal communities. His passion for entrepreneurial education reaches even farther with VIQ™, or Venture Intelligence Quotient, a software-based venture development tool used around the world that helps students determine the possibilities and potential weaknesses of start-up propositions.

Mark Colgate

2013 recipient

Mark is renowned for his dedication to his students, his innovative teaching style, and his promotion of Gustavson beyond the university. From coaching and service management tools, to using the 8 Moments of Power methodology, he teaches our students how to keep customers, build better relationships, deliver world-class service, and sell more effectively. Mark has the attributes of a world class teacher: with his success in engaging students, in sharing his knowledge in the classroom and his passion for mentoring and coaching other teaching faculty.

The Gilian Sherwin Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching bears the name of a former senior lab instructor in the Geography department who, for 21 years, was a strong supporter of better teaching at the university, an active member of the advisory committee of the Learning and Teaching Centre, and a regular participant in the training of teaching assistants. This award is a tribute to Gilian Sherwin’s commitment to the art of teaching and the influence she had on many students and colleagues. This award is open to Sessional Lecturers, Lab Instructors, and Senior Lab Instructors at UVic.

Mark Bridge

2016 recipient

“I think he should coach other profs on how to teach, because he's got it down!” says one student of Professor Mark Bridge’s business law class at the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. Bridge, a graduate of UVic’s Faculty of Law, uses an engaging classroom style and focuses on helping students apply law to business situations they might expect to meet in life. As a first-time instructor at UVic in 1993, his course was such a success that students sent an unsolicited letter to the Dean of Law recommending he stay on so that future students could benefit from his teaching. He has also been a major contributor to programs like NW-ACE, UVic’s Business Law Clinic, and various scholarship and training initiatives.

Gustavson celebrates excellence through our own awards program which annually recognizes faculty and staff members for excellence in research, teaching, service and innovation. The awards are handed out at the Festival of Distinction.

The IAB Community Engagement Award was established by our International Advisory Board and is being funded by 6 of its current and past members. The award recognizes faculty members who actively engage with the local business community in ways that are critical for the long-term success of the Gustavson School of Business. Each year, the IAB Community Engagement Award is given to a faculty member who demonstrates exceptional community engagement. 

If you would like more information about supporting the IAB Community Engagement Award, or other areas of need at the Gustavson School of Business, please contact Amanda Taylor, Senior Development Officer at bizdev@uvic.ca.

Basma Majerbi

2022 Recipient

In addition to her internal involvement in the MBA program redesign, ongoing support for the CSSI and continued data review of the school's carbon footprint, Dr. Basma Majerbi has organized several community events, presentations and webinars, to create awareness, educate the public and provide tools for and resources about impact investing, clean-tech, and climate-smart finance. She is a leader of the International Workshop on Financial Systems (IWFSAS) conference, which is quickly building a strong reputation among sustainable finance scholars. At the university level, she helped establish the UVic Climate Solutions Navigator and co-led the first Climate Solutions Challenge, brought local government connections in the classroom, and supported UVic to allocate a portion of the Working Capital Fund to impact investing. As a recipient of the Strategic Framework Impact Fund to advance UVic strategies, Basma founded the Vancouver Island Impact Investing Hub (VI3Hub), whose mission is to accelerate investments climate solutions. Basma has played key roles in the development of many other external undertakings including: the Decarbonization Design Lab for BC Ferries in collaboration with South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP), and PRME Global Forum events. These community engagement accomplishments enhance both Gustavson and UVic’s reputation as a global leader in impact and climate finance.  

Adel Guitouni

2021 Recipient

As the 2021 recipient of this award, Adel Guitouni plays a significant role in engaging externally to ensure that the Gustavson School achieves its larger sense of purpose. Adel is a valuable connector at Gustavson, offering many linkages for us through his global contacts and activities. Along with his role as Associate Chair of the Victoria Forum, Adel connects Gustavson globally through his business development work in the MENA Region, and through his global network of policy makers, engaged scholars and civil society organizations, such as the Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association. He influences others nationally through the Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS), the Department of National Defense, and as a Director of the Canadian Arab Institute.

Brent Mainprize

2020 Recipient

Brent Mainprize received the award in 2020 as he plays the leading role in our engagement with indigenous communities and has been responsible for our large executive education portfolio in this area. He creatively and successfully secures funding from, and works with, provincial and federal governments to position our offerings. Brent exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit of the School and raises our profile both locally and nationally.

Steve Tax

2019 Recipient

Steve Tax was recognized with the award in 2019 due to his notable role as a member of the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) External Advisory Panel on Service. Through his contributions on the panel, Steve provided expertise, experience and lessons learned to support the CRA’s service transformation. Tax is joined on the board by other senior experts from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to provide advice on emerging trends, design practice, service delivery and innovation. Steve’s research knowledge and customer service expertise were also highlighted—particularly in its application at the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, where he gathered data on his idea of customer service as a performance.

Sudhir Nair

2018 Recipient

Sudhir Nair received the award in 2018, as he created strong community connections through his involvement with the Inter-Cultural Association (ICA) of Greater Victoria and the Greater Victoria Local-Immigrant Partnership. Sudhir’s strategic institutional knowledge and support were acknowledged, as they have enabled the facilitation of services for new immigrants in the area, and helped the local non-for-profit and business communities to build capacity to provide services for newcomers to Victoria.

Brock Smith

2017 Recipient

Brock Smith was celebrated as the 2017 recipient of this award on account of his expertise as a thought leader in media and community discussions. Specializing in marketing and entrepreneurship, Brock’s contributions as an active consultant and board member for business initiatives in Vancouver and Victoria were also recognized. In multiple occasions, Smith has also served as a judge of Canada’s Next Ad Exec Competition. 

Mia Maki

2016 Recipient

Mia Maki was acknowledged as the 2016 recipient of the award because of her active engagement with the business and non-profit communities, including her work with VIATec and the Victoria Foundation. Maki was also recognized for her involvement with the CMA Society of BC, the CPA Western School of Business, and Archipelago Marine Research. Additionally, her regular contributions to a wide variety of community events (as a volunteer, speaker, facilitator, judge, moderator, etc.) were celebrated.

Rebecca Grant

Inaugural 2015 Recipient

Rebecca Grant was chosen as the inaugural recipient of the award, as she exemplified extraordinary community engagement. Through her various roles in the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce; her organizing of the RBC case competition; extensive media interviews; and by serving on the United Way of Greater Victoria Campaign Cabinet, she strongly engaged with the business community and elevated the School’s profile. Grant was also recognized for her work as part of the Advisory Committee of Ballet Victoria, and Douglas Magazine “10 to watch” awards (where she served as a judge). Her involvement in many boards (including the TELUS Community Board, the Tourism Victoria Board, the finance committee of the Victoria Foundation, and her various roles with Junior Achievement of BC) highlighted her powerful connection to the business community.