Classes

Gil started his journalism career at newspapers in Brampton, Kapuskasing and Timmins before joining the Thomson newspaper chain in 1982 as a member of the Parliament Hill bureau. Former press secretary to Toronto Mayor Barbara Hall and media relations manager for the NDP caucus at Queen’s Park, Gil also held senior communications roles at the City of Toronto before retiring in 2017.

Mark is a faculty member at York with the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (FEUC), and serves as the Chair of the ADERSIM Arctic Team and associate to the UNESCO Chair for Reorienting Education towards Sustainability. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, Mark is also a published poet whose latest book of poems, Pandemic Poetry, came out in 2020.

Following his graduation from York, Peter joined Northern Telecom in Belleville to develop telecommunications software and equipment. For the past four years, he has worked for Ford Canada, developing a leading-edge automotive platform in addition to next-generation automotive software.

In March of this year, Richard published his first book, The Real Mystery of Tom Thomson: His Art and His Life. A creative director by profession, he has worked at digital design agency Critical Mass, Proximity Canada and his own Richard Weiser Consulting firm.

Norma is a committee member for several organizations, including the Newmarket Seniors’ Meeting Place (where she sits on the advisory board), the Altar Guild, the Flower Guild, and several Anglican church choirs in Toronto and York Region. Over the past decade, she has served as an executive and archivist for her husband’s regimental social organization, Jimmy and Associates, at Fort York Armoury.

In December 2020, Karen became the third woman to be appointed a resident judge in the Supreme Court of Yukon’s history. She moved to Yukon from Ontario in 2007, initially working as a lawyer for the Yukon Legal Services Society, and later as legal counsel for the Government of Yukon, specializing in labour, human rights and administrative law, among other duties.

“How We Live On” has won the International Prime Number Magazine Award for Poetry. Written in numbered sections with stanzas that explore the strength of connection through generations, the poem is part of Heidi’s collection The Forest of My Mind, completed in 2020. Poets from 19 countries submitted poems to the American literary competition, whose top prize includes publication in the October issue of Prime Number Magazine, US$1,000 and a Pushcart Prize nomination. Born and raised in the Kitchener–Waterloo region of Ontario, Heidi lives in nearby Stratford, where she is presently working on a new collection while developing an online program for other poets. 

An assistant professor in York’s Department of History, Abril has been appointed the University’s new Mariano A. Elia Chair in Italian–Canadian Studies. A historian by training, she focuses her research on the experiences of Italian–Canadians in the post–Second World War period.

Ashley is co-founder and CEO of CultureAlly, continuous learning software providing diversity and inclusion training to organizations. Using data, metrics and other measurement tools, the personalized programs aim to help companies increase employee engagement, boost team productivity and build inclusive workplaces.

A motivational speaker and psychotherapist with over 35 years of experience, Paul has several books, including his latest, The Resilience Formula, which outlines the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to minimize and control unwanted stress. A landscape designer as well as a business coach, he offers dynamic sales training through his company, Success 150.

As senior marketing executive at Evercare Hospital Dhaka, a private hospital in Bangladesh, Mayesha led the development of an in-house graphic design and communications team as part of a 2014 rebranding and modernization project. In 2020, she became director of Shanta Holdings, her family’s real estate development company in Bangladesh.

Since graduating from York University, Ali has worked in the health-care sector as a clinical kinesiologist at King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and has served as president of the Saudi Arabian Rugby Federation in Riyadh. In May of this year, he started prototyping an independent project in immersive technologies to provide a platform for therapy and sports integration for the Dhahran-based King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, better known by its Arabic name, Ithra.

Beverley was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but made her mark in Toronto. She was one of the very first female IT executives in Canada, becoming vice-president at CGI Canada and, later, national program director at the Centre of Excellence in Business Analysis at York’s Schulich School of Business. A devoted mother and grandmother, she passed away in Toronto on April 5, 2021.

After completing his degree at York, John went on to obtain his PhD from Cambridge University with a specialty in 17th-century English social history. He taught at the University of Western Ontario, Queen’s University and Ryerson University – where, for six years, he worked as chief negotiator for the Ryerson Faculty Association. A passionate bibliophile, soccer fan, wine lover, international traveller and academic, he passed away on March 10, 2021, after suffering catastrophic brain injury in a tragic accident three days earlier. He was 73.