Chancellor’s Awards recognize outstanding contributions of Nipissing faculty
Each year, Nipissing University celebrates the recipients of the Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence during its convocation celebrations. These awards are presented to Nipissing faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in the areas of research, teaching, or service.
Please join us in congratulating this year’s deserving recipients.
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research
This award was established to recognize and celebrate the value of research conducted by Nipissing University full-time faculty and those faculty members whose research makes a significant impact on the discipline or field of research.
Dr. Rob Breton
Dr. Rob Breton is a professor of English Studies at Nipissing University first starting in 2005 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2009 and Full Professor in 2017.
He received his PhD in English from the University of British Columbia in 2001.
Dr. Breton’s research focuses on British working-class literatures from the nineteenth century, primarily Chartist fiction and popular fiction from the Chartist era (the 1830s and 40s) that includes political content. Often working on material that only saw publication in Victorian newspapers, his work examines the way literature not only reflected but contributed to the struggle to expand democracy at the time. Dr. Breton is also the creator of Chartist Fiction Online, a database of Chartist writing alongside a colleague at New York University.
He has published three books on working-class writing, or writing popular with the working classes, with the University of Toronto Press, Routledge, and the University of Manchester Press. Rebecca Nesvet calls his latest book, The Penny Politics of Victorian Popular Fiction, “an essential, field-changing contribution” and the American Library Association calls it “outstanding.”
He compliments his research on working-class writing with an interest in juvenilia, child writing from the nineteenth century. Studying both working-class writing and child writing entails archival work on frequently marginalized writers. Dr. Breton attempts to bring a discussion of these figures into the mainstream. In 2012, with the help of two outstanding Nipissing students, Alayna Becker and Katrina Schurter, he edited a collection of John Ruskin’s poetry for the Juvenilia Press.
Dr. Breton has published 25 single-authored articles in the top journals of his field, in addition to several co-authored articles and numerous encyclopedia entries. He’s been invited to be a keynote and plenary speaker at universities in Barcelona and Uppsala, Sweden. He is the Chair of the International Society for Literary Juvenilia and a co-editor of its journal, the Journal of Juvenilia Studies.
He is currently working on a manuscript exploring the political uses of masculinity in the nineteenth century.
Dr. Mary Pat Sullivan
Dr. Mary Patricia Sullivan is a registered social worker, social gerontologist, and full Professor in the School of Social Work at Nipissing University. She received her PhD (Gerontology) from King’s College London (UK) in 2003.
Her research broadly focuses on the social contexts of ageing and older age, and gerontological social work practice. Her engagement with international and multidisciplinary collaborations has led to external (e.g., Economic and Social Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, British Academy, RTOERO, Ontario Brain Institute, British Society of Gerontology) and internal (e.g., Nipissing University, University College London, Brunel University London) research awards exceeding $8 million. Her research addresses areas relevant to the impact of global ageing such as social isolation and loneliness among older people, financial elder abuse, support networks for individuals and families affected by rare and young onset dementia, and increasing social work’s capacity to address the needs of an ageing population. Dr. Sullivan has published extensively in the above areas.
Since joining Nipissing University in 2016, Dr. Sullivan’s principal research focus has been to understand the impact of a diagnosis of a rare or young onset dementia and how to enhance post-diagnostic support and social connection for individuals and families affected with colleagues at University College London and Bangor University. As a largely neglected area in both social science research and the organization of dementia care and support systems in Canada and elsewhere, this work has led to further initiatives including social isolation and loneliness among people living with dementia (RTOERO), Ontario health service use among people living with young onset dementia with colleagues at NOSM University and University of Toronto, and multi-generational support for families affected by young onset dementia (Nipissing University).
In 2021 Dr. Sullivan received a generous donation from the Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation to develop Rare Dementia Support Canada. Led by Nipissing University, this is a virtual support community for people living across Canada who are affected by rare or young onset dementia. Using a translational research model, the support development and delivery is informed by Dr. Sullivan’s research and continually evaluated for impact (Ontario Brain Institute).
In recognition of her work and impact, Dr. Sullivan was awarded the inaugural Tilda Goldberg Social Work Research Fellowship in 2011, and the Brunel University London Star Award for her contributions to gerontological social work and the development of social work education in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 2011. She was an Executive Member of the British Society of Gerontology from 2009 to 2016, and in 2017 she became a Salzburg Global Fellow (Innovations in Dementia Care and Dementia Friendly Communities).
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (FASBU - Full Time Faculty)
This award was established to recognize full-time faculty with an outstanding record of teaching, including evidence of engagement with the scholarship of Teaching and Learning and evidence of sustained innovation in teach practice.
Dr. Wendy Peters
Dr. Wendy Peters is an Associate Professor and has been teaching Social Justice (GESJ) at Nipissing University since 2006.
She received her Ph.D. in Sociology and Equity Studies from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, with a specialization in Cultural Studies and Critical Pedagogy. As an undergraduate at the University of Manitoba, she developed a passion for studying and researching social justice as related to popular culture.
She currently teaches courses that reflect these longstanding interests in media representations of sex, gender, race, class, and sexuality, including Gender and the Media; Queer Media, Race and Gender in Popular Culture, Reality TV and the Politics of Difference, and Women, Media and Representation.
Dr. Peters strives to cultivate an engaging lecture style and compassionate pedagogy, and to nurture self-confidence in students as critical thinkers and scholars. Students highlight Dr. Peters’ “ability to teach complicated theories and concepts in a way that always makes sense,” as well as being a “kind-hearted, intelligent and supportive mentor.” In the last few years, she has discovered a love of online teaching and appreciates the unique joys and challenges of in-person and online teaching.
During her 17-year career at Nipissing University, Dr. Peters has helped to shape the GESJ program in significant ways. She was instrumental in designing the content and pedagogical approaches for Introduction to GESJ and the 4000-level capstone Honours course, which she has taught at least ten times. In total, Dr. Peters has supervised 89 Honours theses. She has also offered numerous “Applying to Grad School” workshops for students, in which she helps students navigate the often discouraging, overwhelming and exclusionary process of graduate school applications.
As an extension of her pedagogy, Dr. Peters aims to foster 2SLGBTQIA+ community within and beyond the University. In partnership with GESJ alumni Cameron Ghent and Sam Defranco, and Nipissing faculty member Rhiannon Don, she created and co-organizes an ongoing event called North Gay Trivia. Known collectively as the ‘Trivial Queers,’ the organizers are frequently joined by a rotating cast of other Nipissing faculty members, including Dr. Derek Neal and Dr. Robin Alex McDonald. The first iteration of North Gay Trivia was held in March 2018, with financial support from the Nipissing University Faculty Association, to promote the North Bay and District Multicultural Centre’s Trillium-funded “Positive Spaces Research Project,” which Dr. Peters also worked on. She volunteers with the Ten Oaks Project, which runs camp programming for 2SLGBTQIA+ children and youth, is a board member for the Near North Mobile Media Lab, and a volunteer for North Bay Film.
Her parents, Anne and Abe, are also teachers with longstanding commitments to collectivity and social justice. They both graduated from the Central Normal School in Winnipeg in 1957 and then returned to their Mennonite communities in southern Manitoba to teach in one-room K-8 public schools that were 10 km apart (romance ensued).
Dr. Peters found teaching as a career after discovering a love of learning in university and could not be happier with the amazingly intelligent, kind, and creative students at Nipissing University that she gets to teach and learn from.
Dr. John Vitale
Dr. John L. Vitale joined the Faculty of Education at Nipissing University in 2008 following a 12-year career as a high school music teacher at various schools across Ontario. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2018. During his high school tenure, he also served as the Department Head of Arts at Victoria Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
Dr. Vitale holds a doctoral degree in Curriculum Studies from the University of Toronto and has over 40 publications to his credit, including books, book chapters, and journal articles. Moreover, Dr. Vitale has presented his work at over 40 conferences, including international venues in Italy, France, and Portugal, as well as numerous locations across Canada and the United States.
At heart, Dr. Vitale is an “A/R/Tographer”, where his multiple identities as a musical Artist, Researcher, and Teacher intersect and overlap. Although Dr. Vitale teaches a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate level, music education has always been the principal foundation of his teaching at Nipissing. Dr. Vitale takes particular interest in teaching generalist teachers at the primary/junior and junior/intermediate levels how to become effective music educators despite a lack of musical training and experience. He has published widely on this topic and has been a regular contributor to The Recorder, the official journal of the Ontario Music Educators’ Association, and The Canadian Music Educator, the official journal of the Canadian Music Educators’ Association.
As a professional bass player, Dr. Vitale has over eleven hundred national and international performances to his credit, including numerous national festivals, public concerts, and television appearances. He has multiple performance credits with Juno award winner and platinum selling artist Robert Michaels, as well as two-time Juno award winner Liberty Silver. Other performance credits include Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, Guido Basso, and Michael Burgess. Dr. Vitale also has numerous professional recording and compositional credits, including the score to multi award-winning children's animated film Attic-in-the-Blue.
As a self-taught musician, Dr. Vitale challenges Eurocentric principles of music education and cultivates aural acuity rooted in informal methods of pedagogy.
Dr. Vitale’s students have praised his teaching efforts stating that he is a “kind, passionate, knowledgeable, dedicated, and inspiring professor.” He has consistently received feedback that he “encouraged and motivated” his students in a “caring, safe, and engaging environment.” He “stimulated creativity” and “helped students to take risks and get out of their comfort zone.” Furthermore, he is known to have “returned assignments quickly, provided positive feedback, and also included notes of encouragement.” He has been praised for his use of technology and social media in the classroom, which has helped to create a “fun and interactive learning environment that made going to class a true pleasure.” Dr. Vitale has been lauded for “helping students deal with anxiety and stress” and giving “fantastic advice on how to succeed in practicum placements.” He “is very approachable, treats his students as equals” and takes a “genuine interest in getting to know and understand his students.”
Dr. Vitale will be on sabbatical for the 2023-24 academic year, where he will be working on several online initiatives that will assist music educators in the classroom. He has plans to launch a new YouTube channel that will provide a wide variety of ukulele play-along songs intended for use in the Primary/Junior, Junior/Intermediate, and Intermediate/Senior classrooms across Canada and beyond.
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (CASBU – Part-Time Faculty)
This award was established to recognize contract academic faculty members with an outstanding record of teaching and the importance of exceptional teaching and who play a significant role in the education of Nipissing University students.
Dr. Jonathan Pitt
Dr. Jonathan Pitt is an Indigenous person with Anishinaabek and Haudenosaunee roots and holds multiple Nipissing University degrees (B.A.(Hons), B.Ed., AdEd, M.Ed.). He completed a doctorate in education at the University of South Africa.
During his time at Nipissing, he was a decorated member of the Lakers Varsity Men’s Nordic Skiing team and a player for the Nipissing University Men’s Basketball team in the pre-varsity years.
Dr. Pitt was a full-time faculty member from 2007-2012 in the Schulich School of Education. He later started teaching as a Contract Academic Staff Bargaining Unit (CASBU) instructor while simultaneously working as a schoolteacher. In addition to teaching Indigenous Studies and Indigenous Education courses during the fall and winter terms, Dr. Pitt teaches Indigenous Studies in Nipissing University’s Summer Indigenous Institute (SII) and Indigenous Foundations Program (IFP) for Enji giigdoyang – Office of Indigenous Initiatives (OII). He is an advocate and regularly integrates Biidaaban Community Service-Learning (CSL) within the courses he teaches.
Dr. Pitt has taught in the Faculty of Arts and Science, the M.Ed./Ph.D. Program, the Indigenous Teacher Education Programs (ITEP), and in the Teacher of Indigenous Language as a Second Language (TILSL) Program in the Schulich School of Education and consistently scores highly on student course evaluations. Many of Dr. Pitt’s colleagues consider him a leader in Indigenous Studies and Education.
As an Indigenous Educator, he incorporates his life experiences and land-based knowledge into his courses by bringing students onto the land to demonstrate that learning that can occur outside the classroom walls, something that his students share as important to their learning and communities.
Dr. Pitt was part of the planning team for the Teacher of Indigenous Language as a Second Language (TILSL) program. He has worked as an Indigenization Advisor to the Nipissing University Faculty Association (NUFA) and with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) in December 2014 as a curriculum consultant for Drew Hayden Taylor’s play entitled Spirit Horse and again in 2016 providing input on how Indigenous teachers can be supported in their role.
Since 2014, he has been featured regularly in the media lending knowledge as an Indigenous Scholar for radio interviews with CBC and multiple newspaper articles on topics such as teachings, ceremonial sites, spiritual places, pictographs, and more. To date, he has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters and has served as the editor for Indigenous-created teacher resource books such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action.
Dr. Pitt enjoys spending time with his family, living and learning on the land with All Our Relations.
Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Service
Dr. Blaine Hatt
This award was established to recognize faculty with an outstanding record of service at all levels of the University, the broader community, and the discipline.
Dr. Blaine Hatt is a Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator in the Schulich School of Education at Nipissing University.
He describes his service to the Nipissing community as being a well-spring of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. He has served for nearly a decade as the elected Speaker of Senate and for many years as the Chair of Bylaws. In these roles, he has honoured the trust and faith of his colleagues by acting in the best interest of students, faculty, staff, and administration.
As an east-cost fisherman’s son, he took his true-north bearing from the principles of appropriateness, intentionality, and responsibility. While serving in Senate, he increased his abilities to conduct the business of complex agendas and to do so with tact and diplomacy while addressing items in a mutually respectful and collegial environment of dialogue and consensus-building between Senators and administration. He developed a great appreciation for members of Senate who have consistently and sincerely placed the interests of the University and the well-being of students over personal and professional interests. As Speaker, Dr. Hatt gained an informed perspective on the integral operations of governance in a bi-cameral setting.
While serving on the Board of Governors and its ancillary committees, Dr. Hatt gained greater insight in the external operations and impact of the University in the broader communities of the city, regions, and province. He notes that there are many individuals who serve selflessly on the Board of Governors to advance the interest and reputation of Nipissing University beyond the boundaries of its campus.
His greatest joy was leading thousands of graduates of Nipissing University into their respective Convocations. He shares that words cannot express his feeling as Marshal, in being an eyewitness to the culmination of years of sacrifice and hard work on the part of graduates, the adulation evidenced by parents, siblings, and friends, and the pride of staff, faculty, and administration while experiencing these historic and memorable events.
His service beyond the University community has been protracted and varied. As Bishop of the North Bay Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dr. Hatt has ministered and administered to adults and youth for many years.
In his work with Imagination Creativity Education (ICE) since 2008, and in his various roles with professional associations such as the Canadian Association of Teachers of Education, the Canadian Association of Curriculum Studies, the Canadian Journal of Education, and as Chair of the International Board of Directors of P.E.A.C.E School, he has gained immeasurably personally and professionally.
Dr. Hatt accepts this prestigious award with humility and deep gratitude to his colleagues who have nominated him and to those who selected him.