George Brown College administrator wins provincial award for exemplary
service

TORONTO, Oct. 18 /CNW/ - Lorie Shekter-Wolfson, Assistant Vice-President, Waterfront Development and Dean of Community Services and Health Sciences at George Brown College, has won a provincial award for her role leading the development of the college's new $175-million campus on the city's waterfront.

Shekter-Wolfson has won the 2010 Colleges Ontario Award for exemplary service. The award will be presented to Shekter-Wolfson next month at a ceremony at the Higher Education Summit in Toronto.

"Lorie is a passionate and tireless advocate for higher education," said George Brown President Anne Sado. "She is co-leading one of the most significant development projects ever undertaken by the college."

Shekter-Wolfson, a social worker with extensive health care experience, has been with the college since 2002. She developed a plan to better integrate the college's health sciences programs, and led the development of the new waterfront campus that will bring the college's health programs together in one campus.

The new campus will play a prominent part in the redevelopment of Toronto's waterfront, and work on the campus is currently underway. The campus is currently under construction, with substantial completion on track for spring 2011 and first student intake in Fall 2012.

"The waterfront campus will be a testament to Lorie's incredible vision and drive," said George Brown vice-president Eugene Harrigan. "She will have truly left a permanent, positive legacy to this institution and to postsecondary education in Toronto."

Colleges Ontario is the organization that advocates on behalf of the province's 24 publicly funded colleges. The Colleges Ontario awards were established in 2000 to recognize individuals, organizations and volunteers who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of Ontario's college system.

This year's awards were presented in four categories: student excellence, exemplary service, collaboration partnerships, and community volunteer.

"Lorie's efforts will play an important part in helping greater numbers of students to pursue higher education," said Linda Franklin, the president and CEO of Colleges Ontario. "Her award for exemplary service is well-deserved and we congratulate her on this honour.

The other award winners this year are:

• The First Generation Student Project at Centennial College, in Toronto, has won the collaboration award for its successes in encouraging students from families with no history of postsecondary education to go to college.
  
  
• Belinda Sayeau, a graduate of Fanshawe College in London, has won the student excellence award for her work helping aboriginal students to get a postsecondary education.
  
  
• Fred Blackstein, a board governor at Algonquin College in Ottawa, is the winner of the William G. Davis Community Volunteer Award for his contributions shaping the vision for a new campus in Renfrew County.

The awards will be presented Nov. 22 at a luncheon ceremony at the Higher Education Summit, the annual conference organized by Colleges Ontario. More than 400 people are expected to attend the conference.

For further information:

Paul Zanettos
George Brown College
416-415-5000 x3428
[email protected]