What are Graduate Student Recognition Awards?
The annual Graduate Student Recognition Awards are a way to celebrate the achievements, accomplishments and contributions of our grad community members beyond their personal academic successes. This is about the graduate community and acknowledging those amazing individuals who have helped to create a wonderful space for living and learning.
Deadline for nominations and applications
- GSA awards: February 3, 2025, at 9 a.m.
- Graduate Studies awards: March 3, 2025, at 9 a.m.
Who can nominate an individual for an award?
Members of the graduate community, as well as undergraduate students, have an opportunity to nominate individuals, although each award may have more specific requirements. Once they are available, please review the nomination packages for more information.
How do I nominate someone for an award?
Review instructions for the nomination process for each award and upload all materials, using the naming convention and links for each award upload.
Who presents these awards?
These awards are administered by the School of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Students Association.
Nominations close on March 3 for the following awards presented by the School of Graduate Studies:
Nominations for the President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision will open early in 2025 and close in early summer 2025. Recipients from the past four years are not eligible to receive the Graduate Supervision award. Please review past winners prior to nomination. This award will be presented at Fall Convocation in November 2025.
Up to 3 awards of $500 each.
How to apply or nominate
- Apply for, or nominate a peer, by filling out the International Graduate Student Community award form.
- Upload required documents. Follow directions below for all document uploads.
Required documents
- Letter of Nomination
- Two Letters of Support
All documents must be uploaded to the International Leadership Award folder by the deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Accepted formats: PDF or .doc
Naming conventions for documents
- Nominee/Applicant FirstName LastName_International Grad Leadership_Nomination Letter
- Nominee/Applicant first Name LastName_International Grad Leadership_Letter of Support
IMPORTANT: Upload each document individually; do not combine into one PDF or Word doc. Combined documents will be considered incomplete submissions.
Awarded to the top three finalists in the annual GradFlix video competition.
GradFlix opens in January – don’t miss this fantastic skills-building opportunity!
Finalists also win cash prizes and bragging rights!
Up to 2 awards of $250 each. A GSA-funded award, coordinated through the School of Graduate Studies.
The Millennium Award was established in 2001 by the Graduate Students Association through its contribution to Canada’s “Our Millennium” Project, to recognize the impact of volunteerism by members of the graduate student community.
How to apply
- Apply filling out the GSA Millennium Award for Community Service.
- Upload required documents. Follow directions below for all document uploads.
Required documents
- One-page summary of applicant’s
volunteer history - One to two-page reflection by the applicant
- Two Letters of Support from volunteer organizations
All documents must be uploaded to the Millennium Award folder by the deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Accepted formats: PDF or .doc
- Applicant FirstName LastName_Millennium_Summary
- Applicant FirstName LastName_Millennium_Reflection
- Nominee/Applicant FirstName LastName_Millennium_Volunteer Org
IMPORTANT: Upload each document individually; do not combine into one PDF or Word doc. Combined documents will be considered incomplete submissions.
Nominations close on February 3 for the following awards presented by the McMaster Graduate Students Association:
For all details and application information, please visit the Graduate Students Association website.
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
Up to 3 awards of $375 each.
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
Up to 2 awards of $200 each.
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
Up to 2 awards of $200 each.
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
Up to 2 awards of $200 each.
Information Box Group
Past Recipients
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
- Katherine Bujold, Chemistry/Chemical Biology
- Kathryn Grandfield, Materials Science and Engineering
- Elkafi Hassini, Operations Management
- Victor Kuperman, Linguistics and Language
- Alina Sajed, Political Science
- Meredith Vanstone, Health Policy, Health Sciences Education, and Health Research Methodology
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Erica Dao
- Rachael Finnerty
- Calvin Zhu
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Leadership & Contributions to the International Graduate Student Community
- Ahmed Abdelmaksoud
- Moyosore Sogaolu
- Yasaman Torabi
Millennium Award for Community Service
- Vibhu Bhargava
- Brittany Davy
Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
- Lauren Dessureault
- Sulayman Lyons
- Matthew Nero
- Sureka Selvakumaran
- Ahmed Teamah
- Yasaman Torabi
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
- Lindsay Godard
- Cindy Ma
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
- Amandeep Saini
- Caroline Seiler
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
- Kenneth Noguchi
- Nicole Rakowski
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
- Jason Busse, Health Research Methodology
- Amber Dean, English and Cultural Studies
- Jamal Deen, Biomedical Engineering
- Martin Gibala, Kinesiology
- Michel Grignon, Health, Aging & Society and Economics
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Erica Dao
- Rachael Finnerty
- Calvin Zhu
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Leadership & Contributions to the International Graduate Student Community
- Tamina Angel Jose
- Avijit Mallick
- Garima Sarkar
Millennium Award for Community Service
- Abiram Chandiramohan
- Nicole Rakowski
Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
- Ahmed Belal
- Gaoyin He
- Samuel Lee
- Abdul-Rehman (“Abdul”) Qureshi
- Ahmed Teamah
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
- Brian Alcock
- Kristine Espiritu
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
- Maddie Brockbank
- Allison Leanage
- Ana Portillo
- Hasan Siddiqui
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
- Nicole Rakowski
- Yordan Stoyanov
- Evan Ubene
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
Recipients
- Khaled Hassanein, Business
- Alison Holloway, Health Sciences
- Marie Elliot, Science
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Leadership and Contributions to the International Graduate Student Community
Recipients
- Anthony Quarshie
- Pallavi Mukherjee
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
Recipient
- Carla Dawson
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
Recipient
- Shawn Hercules
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
Nominees
Recipients
- Ajantha Nadarajah
- Ashley Adile
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
Recipient
- Daniella Lato
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
Recipients
- Maureen Dobbins, Health Sciences
- Carolyn Eyles, Science
- L. Arthur Sweetman, Social Sciences
Nominees
- M. Constantine Samaan, Health Sciences
- Julie Richardson, Health Sciences
- Juliet Daniel, Science
- Kari Dalnoki-Veress, Science
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Matthew Campea
- Erica Dao
- Shawn Hercules
- Indranil Sarkar
- Julian Yabut
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Leadership and Contributions to the International Graduate Student Community
Recipients
- Sebastian Himbert
- Jean-Christophe Ono-dit-Biot
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
Recipients
- Ahmednur Ali
- Khaled Al-Kassimi
Nominees
- Bahar Amani
- Ahmed Belal
- Alanna Bodo
- Eric Desjardins
- Ahmed Elsayed
- Nicole Greisman
- Hanna Haponenko
- Shawn Hercules
- Laura Jin
- Bijendra Khadka
- Sachin Kotecha
- Gautham Krishnaraj
- Bichoy Labib
- Samuel Kwangho Lee
- Vanessa Liegghio
- Sulayman Lyons
- Sumit Majumder
- Avijit Mallick
- Joshua Racette
- Emily Scherzinger
- Kanwaldeep Singh
- Celeste Suart
- Anthony Tan
- Dana Thacher
- Robert Ungard
- Devan Wagner
- Yan Qiao Wang
- Jo Werba
- Christina Wiendels
- Noah Xiao
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
Recipient
- Terry Martens
Nominees
- Jackie Hudson
- Marg Leyland
- Barb Reuter
- Nora Roberge
- John Silva
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
Recipients
- Shawn Hercules
- Jodie Lobana
Nominees
- Valentina Antonipillai
- Amanda Giancola
- Lucas Greville
- Maxwell Lightstone
- Michael Liut
- Pritpal (Pip) Matharu
- Rodrigo Narro Perez
- Shane Simon
- Robert Ungard
- Aisha Wilks
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
Recipients
- Hunster Yang
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
Recipients
- Daniella Lato
Nominees
- Eric Desjardins
- Lucas Greville
- Kenneth Noguchi
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
Recipients
- Zainab (Zena) Samaan, Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences
- Mo Elbestawi, W. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology
- Narayanaswamy Balakrishnan, Mathematics and Statistics
- Aaron C.H. Schat, DeGroote School of Business
- Aubrey Cannon, Anthropology
- Mary Silcox, English and Cultural Studies
Nominees
- Giusueppe Melacini, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Jose Moran Mirabal, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Karen Mossman, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences
- Wael El-Dakhakhni, Civil Engineering
- Sarah Dickson-Anderson, Civil Engineering
- Lesley MacNeil, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences
- Jeremiah Hurley, Economics
- Christina Sinding, Social Work
- Jemila S. Hamid, Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Matthew Berry
- Kaitlin East
- Shawn Hercules
- Steven Mancini
- Jasprit Pannag
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Leadership and Contributions to the International Graduate Student Community
Recipients
Mai Yamamoto
Shawn Hercules
Vi Dang
Nominees
- Sultana al Sabahi
- Tsz Wing Cheung
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
Recipients
- Khaled Al-Kassimi
- Stephanie Hatzifilalithis
Nominees
- Ahmad Firas Khalid
- Ahmed Belal
- Ahmed Elsayed
- Ahmednur Ali
- Allison Leanage
- Avijit Mallick
- Bijendra Khadka
- Cameron Oud
- Carin Yegiazarian
- Haleh Shahzad
- Jiarun (Jeffery) Wei
- John Debackere
- Katherine Kennedy
- Kyle Ansilio
- Lindsey Carfrae
- Maleeha Qazi
- Marcus Evans
- Michelle Ogrodnik
- Robert Ungard
- Shawn Hercules
- Sulayman A Lyons
- Sumit Majumder
- Thomas Francescutti
- Valentina Antonipillai
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
Recipient
- Todd Prior, Kinesiology
Nominees
- David Hill, Global Health
- Doreen Drew, Religious Studies
- Jennie Kirby, Geography and Earth Sciences
- John Silva, Anthropology
- Kristine Espiritu, Health and Aging
- Lydia Garland, Health Policy
- Olga Cannon, Sociology
- Sandra Murphy, Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
Recipients
- Emily Belita
Nominees
- Carmina Angelica Perez Romero
- Harman Sandhu
- Jodie Lobana
- Puja Bagri
- Zoha Anjum
- Jade Goodman
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
Recipients
- Elene Lam
- Tanya Miladinovic
Nominees
- Ahmad Firas Khalid
- Grace Maria Terry
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
Recipient
- Daniella Lato
Nominee
- Meghan Rothenbroker
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
Recipients
- Bruce Gaulin, Physics and Astronomy
- Dr. John N. Lavis, Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI)
- Tony Porter, Political Science
- Wilfrid Waluchow, Philosophy
Nominees
- David J. D. Earn, Mathematics and Statistics
- Paul W. Ayers, Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Jonathon R. Stone, Biology
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Tsz Wing Cheung
- Gautham Krishnaraj
- Sophie Wilkinson
- Matthew Berry
- Nourhan Shalaby
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Leadership and Contributions to the International Graduate Student Community
- Wei Zhao
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
Recipients
- Danial Qureshi
- Tarushika Vasanthan
Nominees
- Khaled Al-Kassimi
- Taylor Brooks
- Monica De Paoli
- Sarah Duignan
- Salma El-Zamel
- Mahdi Eskandari
- Sumeet Farwaha
- Ahmad Firas Khalid
- Farzad Foroutan
- Nicole Go
- Vanessa Ha
- Hi Huihui
- Eric Johnston
- Bijendra Khadka
- Chi Longxing
- Michael Liut
- Sulayman Lyons
- Craig MacNair
- Avijit Mallick
- Victoria Miller
- Josh Nederveen
- Ahmed Negm
- Michelle Ogrodnik
- Angela Orasch
- Shaiya Robinson
- Nourhan Shalaby
- Lana Shaya
- Taylor Steele
- Robert Ungard
- Alyssa Vito
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
Recipient
- Manuela Dozzi, Political Science
Nominees
- Laurie Kennedy, Aging, Community and Health
- Tina Macala, Computing and Software
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
Recipients
- Maryam Badv
- Ahmad Firas Khalid
Nominees
- Natalie D’Silva
- Michael Liut
- Alan Santinele Martino
- Kathleen Steeves
- Michael Wong
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
Recipients
- Alan Santinele Martino
- Gerald Mak
Nominees
- Hassan Ali Al Saleh
- Madison Beatty
- Michelle Ferderbar
- Joshua P Nederveen
- Shaun Shepherd
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
- Samir Ziada, Mechanical Engineering
- Sharon Kaasalainen, School of Nursing
- Lehana Thabane, Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Ivona Kucerova, Cognitive Science of Language
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Ana Kovacevic, Kinesiology
- Paul Ricciuti, Mechanical Engineering
- Rachel Ho, Rehabilitation Science
- Laura Cirelli, Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour
- Elizabeth Perez, Medical Science
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
- Ahmad Firas Khalid, Health Policy
- Craig MacNair, Biochemistry
- Meryl Acker, Biology
- Omar Bourasalie, Biomedical Engineering
- Tarushika Vasanthan, Biology
- Tommaso D’ovidio, Health Research Methodology
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
- Doreen Drew, Religious Studies
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
- Talena Rambarran, Chemistry
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
- Sara Kilmury, Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences
- Richard Alsop, Physics
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
- Thomas Adams, Chemical Engineering
- Mirna Carranza, School of Social Work
- Rick Hackett, Management of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources
- Karin Humphreys, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour
- Peter Rosenbaum, Rehabilitation Science
- Lorraine York, English and Cultural Studies
The Dean’s Award for Graduate Student Knowledge Mobilization and Innovation
- Melissa Tanti
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
- Khaled Al-Kassimi
- Saranya Amirthamanoharan
- Hadi Eslami
- Madeleine Mant
- Nick Randazzo
- Natashya Wall
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
- Elaine Whiskin
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
- Elyse Rosa
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
- Pei Yu
- A-Rum Choi
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
- Aaron Bailey
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
- Tina Fetner, Sociology
- Joey Kish, Materials Science & Engineering
- Alba Guarne, Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Cody Dey
- Matthew Stork
- Kaelan Moat
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Knowledge Mobilization & Innovation
- Kathleen Einarson, Psychology
- Tram Nguyen, Rehabilitation Science
- Irena Radisevic, Cognitive Science of Language
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
- D’Andra Parker
- Mustafa Ahmadzai
- Vanessa Lovisa
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
- Natalie Illingworth
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
- Frances Lasowski
- Lauren Salci
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
- David Nairn
- Kevin Browne
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
- Jillian Wyman
President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision
- James Benn, Social Sciences
- Kari Dalnoki-Veress, Science
- Donald Goellnicht, Humanities
- Geoffrey R. Norman, Health Sciences
- Michael D. Noseworthy, Engineering
- Mahmut Parlar, Business
Dean’s Award for Excellence in Communicating Graduate Research
- Kathleen Einarson, Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour
- Mark Embrett, Health Policy
- Tram Nguyen, Rehabilitation Science
- Lisa Rivard, Rehabilitation Science
- Jennifer Tomasone, Kinesiology
- Rachel Ward, Physics & Astronomy
The Dean’s Award for Graduate Student Knowledge Mobilization & Innovation
- Lisa Kabesh, English & Cultural Studies
- Tram Nguyen, Rehabilitation Science
GSA Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
- Diana Glennie, Medical Physics
- Jennifer Tomasone, Kinesiology
- Douglas Wong, Political Science
GSA Award for Contributions by Non-Academic Staff
- Marianne Chew, Pathology and Molecular Medicine
Therese Quigley Award of Excellence for Graduate Student Leadership in Athletics
- Matt Stork, Kinesiology
Mary Keyes Award for Outstanding Leadership and Service to McMaster
- D’Andra Parker, Medical Sciences
- Rebecca Seymour, Nursing
GSA Millennium Award for Community Service
- Frances Lasowski, Chemical Engineering
- Anupa Jyoti Prashad, Health Sciences
Three of the Graduate Student Recognition Awards have been named in honour of individuals who made a difference at McMaster University.
About Keith Leppmann
The Keith Leppmann Teaching Assistant Excellence Award was established by the family and friends of Keith Leppmann, following his tragic death in a car accident in 1989.
A graduate student in Engineering Physics, Keith was a teaching assistant for a demanding course in digital logic and computer systems. His honours thesis project was the deisgn of a software package which allowed students in this course to simulate and troubleshoot their use of the NOVA lab computer on their own PC’s at home.
The Keith Leppmann Teaching Awards were established to honour Keith’s commitment to the role of teaching assistants in McMaster’s learning enviornment. They are awarded to TA’s who have been recognized by their students and peers for their similiar commitment to teaching.