Wednesday, May 24th, 2023, marked a special day for the Department of Chemistry. We held our first-ever in-person Award Ceremony since 2019, at the Davenport Atrium.
The Department of Chemistry's Annual Award Ceremony celebrates and honours the outstanding achievements of our students, faculty, and staff.
2023 Chair’s Doctoral Medal: Dr. Austin Marchese
This award recognizes PhD graduates who achieved distinction in their research. This year’s recipient, Austin Marchese, obtained his PhD on “From Palladium to Nickel: The Carboiodination Reaction Forwards and Back” under Professor Mark Lautens’s supervision. He received this award as he developed new reversible reactions based on nickel and palladium catalysis, including new ways to make and break carbon-carbon bonds in a reversible fashion.
2023 Chair’s Distinguished Teaching Award: Professor Jessica D’eon
Professor D'eon received this award for transforming some of U of T's largest undergraduate curriculums. She has made major contributions to our first-year introductory courses and labs, and our environmental chemistry courses, such as CHM310H: Environmental Fate and Toxicity of Organic Contaminants, and CHM410H: Analytical Environmental Chemistry. In addition to enhancing our classes, she has introduced a new course CHM211H: Chemicals in the Environment: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, for the 2022-23 academic year. She is also the Associate Dean for the School of Environment. Notably, she worked extensively on their Environmental Science Major and taught their course ENV233: Fundamental Environmental Skills.
2023 Chemistry Outstanding Staff Award: Dr. Grace Flock
As the Chief Administrative Officer, Grace Flock's contributions ensured that the department and its spaces ran safely and smoothly. Her leadership in our COVID-19 response was so innovative that it influenced other departments' and faculties' responses. She is highly involved in other areas of administration and operations, such as the department's new building plans.
Congratulations to all of our winners!