Angela Hildyard Recognition Award

As Provost & VP Academic at York University, Lisa Philipps played a critical role in leading development of the University Academic Plan (UAP): 2020-2025, charting a bold path to creating positive change for York’s students, its campuses, and its communities near and far.  With a bold commitment to elevate the University’s collective contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, York has been recognized repeatedly among the top 40 institutions worldwide in the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking.   
 
Lisa began her academic career in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria.  She later served as associate dean for research, graduate studies & institutional relations at Osgoode Hall Law School, associate vice-president of research for York University, and interim dean of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law at Lakehead University. In this last role Lisa helped support a new law school to realize its mandate of strengthening the Indigenous bar and preparing lawyers to practice in northern and rural communities.  
 
As Provost, Lisa continues to demonstrate her interest in empowering emerging leaders to make meaningful contributions to University communities and to strengthening the post-secondary sector’s impact in Canada and around the world. In 2021, she created the Provostial Fellows Program, an initiative aimed at creating pathways for diverse future academic leaders through mentorship and skill building. Fellows have gone on to assume associate dean positions, oversee undergraduate programming and take on senior chair positions at other top postsecondary institutions. 

Dr. Tammy Eger is the Vice-President, Research (VPR) (2020), Graduate Studies Dean (2021) and Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at Laurentian University. 

During significant challenges for Laurentian, Dr. Eger provided leadership across several files including Executive Lead for COVID-19, and Interim President (2-months), leading the University’s exit from insolvency. Furthermore, she played a critical role in rebuilding trust with researchers, funding agencies, and partners to stabilize the research enterprise. 

Her unit-level leadership includes, Kinesiology Program Coordinator, co-developing Masters and PhD programs, Faculty Research Coordinator, and co-founding the Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health (CROSH). As CROSH Director and Research Chair, Tammy established an industry and community Advisory Board, led the development of its first strategic plan, co-developed a custom-designed mobile research lab and workplace simulator, and secured the first 5-year Provincial funding agreement. 

Tammy’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) has spanned her career. She has co-organized panels for Women and Indigenous persons in STEMM, chaired the inaugural organizing committee for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, co-developed the first university-wide EDI workshop for graduate students, and hired the first Research EDI Officer. At the Provincial level, she was Co-Chair of the COVID-19 Recovery EDI Working Group, Chairs the OCUR EDI Working Group, and is a member of the COU EDI Reference Group. 

Dr. Eger holds a BSc, in Biology (1995), Bachelor of Physical and Health Education (1995), and a MSc (1998) and PhD (2007) in Occupational Biomechanics from Queen’s University. She is the recipient of Laurentian’s Presidential Advisory Committee on the Status of Women Award (2011), Research Excellence Award (2013), and Innovation Award (2017). In 2019 she was selected to an international leadership program for Women in STEMM, culminating in an expedition to Antarctica with 99 women. 

Dr. Jennifer Lokash is Provost and Vice-President (Academic) pro tempore at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. Her wide-ranging experience as an academic administrator, her compassionate, equity-driven leadership style, and her steadfast commitment to Memorial’s students, to its academic mission, and to the lands and waters on which its five campuses are situated, have positioned her as a stabilizing and impactful leader during a time of unprecedented challenge and change. 

Dr. Lokash is known for bringing teams together and inspiring positive and bold new directions. From 2014-22, she served as the Head of the Department of English, one of the largest and most complex academic units at Memorial. In that role, Dr. Lokash nurtured a dynamic and optimistic culture, championed student and faculty diversity and success, and facilitated significant program growth and transformational change. 

Dr. Lokash’s strong administrative skills have been bolstered by her deep knowledge of the academy. She chaired the Planning and Research Committee for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, co-chaired Memorial’s inaugural Advisory Committee on Sustainability and developed its first Sustainability Action Plan, and in 2019, was appointed to the Joint Gender Equity Salary Adjustment Committee, which resulted in over 300 women faculty members receiving raises. 

Following her tenure as Head of English she took on the role of Interim Associate Vice-President (Academic), and shortly after that was appointed Provost and VPA pro tempore. In her current role she provides strong, reliable, and strategic leadership to her large portfolio and to the whole of the Memorial community. 

A compassionate, dynamic, and collaborative leader, Dr. Lokash seeks to inspire confidence, motivate engagement, and empower her teams to reach, and grow, and thrive together. This approach has always been fundamental to her teaching, but it is also how she strives to support all leaders, colleagues, and stakeholders, now and into the future.