Marshall McLuhan

This year marked the centenary of the birth of Marshall McLuhan, author of such influential texts as The Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media, and one of Canada's most acclaimed thinkers. Throughout 2011, the University has celebrated the life of the former professor and renowned media theorist whose work, along with that of Harold Innis, Northrop Frye and other U of T scholars, formed the basis for what became known as the Toronto School of Communication Theory. St. Michael's College named a campus street in his honour and the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology at the Faculty of Information hosted a three-day international McLuhan conference in November that brought together artists and experts on media and culture from across Canada and around the world.

Ida Famiyeh, Lindy Kinoshameg, Alicia Bryant

Every summer, the Faculty of Medicine organizes the Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) in the Health Sciences for high school students from backgrounds underrepresented in healthcare. For four weeks, Aboriginal students and African-Canadian students attend lectures and labs on campus and shadow healthcare professionals on the job. Ninety-eight percent of the program's graduates have gone on to post-secondary education and some have become doctors, lawyers and professors. This year's coordinators of the program are (left) Ida Famiyeh (a 2007 SMP graduate now in her second year as a Pharmacy undergraduate) and (right) Lindy Kinoshameg (a 2004 SMP graduate now in his final year of studies in Physical and Health Education). They are pictured with Alicia Bryant, a 2011 SMP graduate.

Milica Radisic

Professor Milica Radisic is a leader in cardiovascular tissue engineering, using cells and biomaterials to build living tissue. Radisic, who works in chemical engineering and applied chemistry and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, grows heart cells in her lab and then engineers them into heart tissues that beat. It sounds like science fiction, but Radisic points out that skin and cartilage are already being regenerated and burn victims have already received living skin replacements. With heart disease a leading cause of death, the potential impact of regenerating hearts is enormous. "Science," she says, "continues to amaze me. This is reachable in our lifetime."

Steven J. Thorpe

Professor Steven J. Thorpe is saving the planet, one drop of water at a time. Water covers 70% of the earth's surface and Canadians account for some of the heaviest users of this essential commodity in the world. But elsewhere on the planet, it is estimated that more than a billion people don't have access to water that's safe to drink. Leading the Surface Engineering & Electrochemistry (SEE) Research Group in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Thorpe aims to fix the world's energy crises while providing remediation of industrial and municipal waste water. Among the group's projects: developing new, low-cost nanomaterials that efficiently destroy compounds such as Bisphenol A, commonly found in plastic bottles. This technology, when applied to treat wastewater effluent, also produces hydrogen-oxygen gas – an environmentally-friendly potential fuel source. 

Chris Wedeles

Graduate student Chris Wedeles of the U of T Mountain Bike Club volunteers for the annual bike tune-up fundraiser for the varsity cycling team. The team, which has produced some of the best mountain bike racers in the country, also runs an annual tandem bike ride for the sight impaired.

Kim Tomczak and Lisa Steele

Art professors Kim Tomczak and Lisa Steele are the founders of VTape, an arts videotape repository that earned the 2011 Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts. Tomczak, a renowned expert in video restoration, and Steele, a superb curator, are proud of VTape – which they call an "anti-boutique" – because it is an artist-run organization that makes work by multiple artists publicly available. Customers, including libraries, film festivals and educational institutions, can rent or purchase videos. VTape returns 75 per cent of the revenue to the artists and uses the remainder for administration.

Shafique Virani

An award-winning author and internationally celebrated public speaker, University of Toronto Distinguished Professor Shafique Virani has been described by Canada's Laurier Institution as one of "the world's most renowned scholars in Islamic studies." Chair of the Department of Historical Studies, his research, teaching and humanitarian work take him around the world.  He has dined with Tajik President Rahmon in Dushanbe and taught boatmen on the banks of the Ganges in Benares, and spoken to audiences of more than 10,000 in East Africa where he volunteers in an organization that runs over two hundred schools in disadvantaged areas. Describing him as "a visionary," UNESCO recently honoured him for dedicating his efforts "to the cause of extending the frontiers of knowledge and the welfare of humankind."

Rosanna Kronfli, Bo Zhang, Schnelle Gopalan, Patricia Sheridan

Chemical engineering students put chemistry, math and physics to work solving the world's challenges but they also get engaged and involved in the U of T community. You can find them find them at Undergraduate Engineering Research Day, the South Asian Alliance, the St. George Dance Team, the Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering- UofT Chapter or the  University of Toronto Engineering Kompetitions. Pictured from left to right are: Rosanna Kronfli, Masters Student; Bo Zhang, 3rd year; Schnelle Gopalan, 4th year; Patricia Sheridan, PhD student.

Suzanne Stewart

Professor Suzanne Stewart of the Yellowknife Dene First Nation is special advisor to the Dean on Aboriginal Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at U of T. She appears here with an Anishnawbe cradle board made for her daughter.

Stewart coordinates the Indigenous Education Network based at OISE, ensuring institutional policies, procedures, practices and programs reflect and respect the interests and needs of Aboriginal communities.  Her position, established in consultation with the Aboriginal scholars at OISE and with Anishnawbe Health Toronto, was given the spiritual name Kitchae kaetae bojinanon (Great dreams from long ago) at a traditional naming ceremony.

David Gadzala, Simon Wright

Undergraduates David Gadzala and Simon Wright screen sediments from a 19th-century archaeological site on the St. George campus during a summer course on archaeological field methods. Their research adds to our knowledge of Toronto's recent past. Students in anthropology study and conduct research in Indonesia, Portugal, Peru, South Africa, Namibia, and Hungary, as well as Arctic Canada and the northwest coast.

Vicky Sunohara

Alumnus and three-time Olympic medalist Vicky Sunohara (PHE 1T0, Hockey) is the University of Toronto's first-ever full-time coach of the Varsity Blues women's hockey team. A member of Canada's national women's hockey team for 10 years and an international standout on the ice, Sunohara aims to build a winning tradition here in Toronto. "My vision is to do my best to give the players everything they need to be successful. Every day I think, 'Wow, I'm coaching at the University of Toronto!'  It's a dream job for me."

Freida Chavez

The Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing is an internationally recognized leader in nursing education and research. Freida Chavez, the Director, International Office, leads the nursing faculty's collaborative initiatives with Brazil.  The Brazil  Canada Partnership, Nursing Leadership and Capacity Building in the context of Primary Health Care,  brings  together Brazilian and Canadian partners to address the professional development needs of primary healthcare nurses working in family health teams and to facilitate knowledge translation and exchange in nursing practice, research and education.