Faculty & Staff Awards

Dr. Brent Mainprize

2016 Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology

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

Dr. 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. 

Dr. 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.

Dr. 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.

Dr. 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.

Dr. 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.

Dr. 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.

Dr. Mark Colgate

2013 recipient

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.

Dr. Sudhir Nair

2018 recipient

Sudhir has created strong community connections in the past few years, especially through his involvement with the Inter-Cultural Association (ICA) of Greater Victoria and the Greater Victoria Local-Immigrant Partnership, helping them to build capacity to provide services for newcomers to Victoria. He provides strategic and institutional knowledge and support for facilitating services for new immigrants in the area. 

Dr. Brock Smith

2017 recipient

Brock Smith's expertise lies in marketing and entrepreneurship, and he frequently contributes to these areas as a thought leader in media and community discussions. Smith is an active consultant and board member for business initiatives in Vancouver and Victoria and has served several times as a judge of Canada’s Next Ad Exec Competition. 

Mia Maki

2016 recipient

“Mia is actively engaged with the business and non-profit communities, including her work with VIATec and the Victoria Foundation,” says International Advisory Board member Blair Hagkull, who presented Maki with her award at the Dean’s Community Conversation on April 5, 2016. 

Maki was also recognized for her involvement with the CMA Society of BC, the CPA Western School of Business, Archipelago Marine Research and for her regular contributions to a wide variety of community events as a volunteer, speaker, facilitator, judge, and moderator.

Rebecca Grant

2015 recipient

• her various roles in the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce (President 2000-2006, Governor ongoing), building strong relationships between the Gustavson School and the business community;
• organizing the RBC case competition, she actively engages the business community in the educational mission of the School;
• raising the profile of the School through media interviews with Douglas Magazine, A Channel, Times Colonist, CBC and the Globe and Mail; and
• serving on the United Way of Greater Victoria Campaign Cabinet (2005-2014) she contributes to the welfare of the larger community; and
• serving on the Advisory Committee of Ballet Victoria, is a judge for the Douglas Magazine “10 to watch” awards, and has served on the TELUS Community Board, the Tourism Victoria Board, the finance committee of the Victoria Foundation, and in various roles with Junior Achievement of BC.