At convocation ceremonies in June this year, UTSC students Timour Al-Khindi and Juan Ma were honoured for winning two of the three top national academic awards for students of arts and science.
Al-Khindi—who is a student in the neuroscience specialist co-op program and also has a major in psychology—was awarded the Governor General’s Silver Medal for science for earning the highest marks among all science students graduating from U of T in 2011. He was nominated by psychology professor Michael Inzlicht, who considers Al-Khindi one of the best undergraduate students he has worked with over the past 13 years. This fall, Al-Khindi will enrol in the combined MD/PhD program at Johns Hopkins University.
Juan Ma—a BBA graduate who specialized in Economics for Management Studies—received the Governor’s General Silver Medal for the highest marks among all arts students graduating this year. As well, she was awarded the John Black Aird Scholarship, which recognizes the top student of the three Silver Medal winners. Now at Harvard pursuing a PhD in Business Administration, Ma joins two UTSC students who were also John Black Aird Scholarship winners—Mark Lee in 2009 and Matthew Fellion in 2007.
The awarding of two of the three Governor General Silver Medals to UTSC students is something that the entire campus should celebrate,” says Rick Halpern, UTSC dean and vice-principal, academic. “It is indicative of the excellent quality of our students, our teachers and our programming.