快播视频鈥檚 2025 Spring Convocation will honour two faculty members with Distinguished Research Professor and University Professor recognitions.

The Distinguished Research Professor title is awarded to a faculty member whose research has had a significant and lasting impact, both at 快播视频 and beyond. It is a recognition of scholarly excellence and leadership that has shaped fields of study and contributed meaningfully to the academic reputation of the University.

The University Professor honour is reserved for those who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to teaching and research, alongside exemplary service to the University community. Recipients are recognized for their broad and sustained influence across all areas of academic life.

University Professorship

Paula Wilson, Faculty of Science

Wilson, a long-serving faculty member in the Department of Biology, has been recognized for her significant contributions to 快播视频鈥檚 academic mission, governance and community life.

Since joining York in 1998, she has held a range of senior administrative roles, including associate dean of student affairs, acting dean of the Faculty of Science, acting associate vice-president international, interim Chair of biology and, most recently, head of Bethune College.

She played a central role in developing undergraduate programs such as the biomedical science stream and the international bachelor of science, both of which have broadened access to science education. As a member of the Markham Campus Planning Group, she also supported the development of new professional graduate programs.

As head of Bethune College, she revitalized its role as an academic and social hub, launched new communications platforms, strengthened ties with the  and reimagined Academic Orientation Day to build student belonging.

A passionate educator and mentor, Wilson is a staunch advocate for removing barriers to learning. Her current scholarship, supported by a York Academic Innovation Fund grant, focuses on improving accessibility in undergraduate labs. Her pedagogical expertise and deep commitment to student success have had a lasting impact on the student experience at York.

While Wilson has received other teaching awards 鈥� including the Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching Award and the President鈥檚 University-Wide Teaching Award 鈥� the University Professorship, she says, stands out.

"Receiving the University Professor recognition is the highest honour I could receive from York, so it means a lot to me and I鈥檓 deeply grateful for it. It has special meaning for me too, as a member of the teaching stream, as this honour rarely goes to teaching stream faculty," says Wilson. "I鈥檓 especially thankful for my colleagues who prepared the nomination and support letters, as these things take a substantial amount of time and energy 鈥� I feel like I am sharing this honour with them.

"Having the privilege to work with so many outstanding colleagues, students and staff members at York has made it both fun and a pleasure to come to work each day and to be honest, anything I have accomplished has been in collaboration with and because of them."

Courtesy of Yfile

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Mike Wessinger, co-founder and executive Chair of PointClickCare, the most widely used cloud-based health-care software provider in long-term and post-acute care, spoke to Faculty of Science graduands about his path to success, and offered advice on how they might navigate their own way to a life of accomplishment.

Wessinger shared with graduands that a question he is often asked is, 鈥淲hat is the secret to success?鈥� With the aim of leaving graduands with advice to take with them on their journey ahead, he shared that the answer 鈥� for him 鈥� is hard work and determination, above all else.

鈥淚ntelligence and emotional quotients do matter,鈥� he stressed. 鈥淏ut, in my experience, the people [with great success] are those people who have the highest grit quotient. If they see a wall, they go over, under, around or through it.鈥�

As Wessinger shared his professional journey, he illustrated how he faced 鈥� and overcame 鈥� some walls himself throughout his career. Among the first barriers was when he graduated from university as young man with no prospects, no money and the feeling that he was unemployable. He knew he wanted to be a success at something, but was unsure what direction to take. 鈥淚 had to figure out how I was going to make something of myself,鈥� he said. A break came when his brother helped him find a sales job in the long-term and post-acute care industry. He seized the opportunity and began applying himself. 鈥淚 knew it was time to really buckle down and really get to work,鈥� he said.

Wessinger familiarized himself quickly with everything he could about the industry he鈥檇 joined in order to not only excel in his sales job but find a way to revolutionize it. He hustled 鈥� often sleeping at the office and rarely taking time off 鈥� until he felt he was successful enough for a new challenge: starting his own business.

Initially, that business was selling existing electronic health records and financial software technology to nursing homes across Canada, but over time he found himself underwhelmed by the product he was selling. This technology is just not working, he thought at the time. It鈥檚 not making a big impact on these organizations. He believed the long-term and post-acute care space 鈥� and especially the seniors who lived within 鈥� deserved something more.

Wessinger and his partners decided to build their own solution, one that was ahead of its time: an electronic health records software that wouldn鈥檛 be installed on-site, but hosted on servers with clients accessing them through the internet. 鈥淲e had no idea we were talking about software as a service (SaaS),鈥� Wessinger said. 鈥淧eople couldn鈥檛 sell SAS back then. Nobody was talking about the cloud. We fundamentally changed the game.鈥�

Not everyone shared that sentiment at the time. As Wessinger moved ahead with PointClickCare, it was the year 2000, shortly after the infamous dot-com bubble had burst, a time when many were wary of internet-based businesses. As Wessinger approached venture capitalists and banks with his startup idea, he joked that doors tended to close the instant he explained his mission to put seniors鈥� health records online.

Wessinger had to find a financial solution somehow, and he found it close to home. 鈥淭he only people that were kind of enough to fund us go by the name of 鈥楳om,鈥� 鈥楧ad,鈥� 鈥楿ncle,鈥� 鈥楢unt鈥� and 鈥楩riend from Hockey Team,鈥欌�� Wessinger said. With that came not just the usual high financial stakes of making a startup succeed but personal stakes, too. 鈥淚 felt this enormous obligation to be successful,鈥� he said.

Two decades later, PointClickCare is now one of the largest privately held software companies in Canada, with over 1,500 employees, and serving over 22,000 skilled nursing facilities across North America. 鈥淭he thing I鈥檓 most proud of is that there are some two million seniors today that I know are getting the right care because they鈥檙e utilizing our software,鈥� he said.

While the journey of a startup firm may be succinctly summarized in an honorary degree recipient鈥檚 address, the reality is a long road full of challenges, long hours and 鈥� sometimes 鈥� sacrifices. While Wessinger told graduands hard work is the 鈥渉ack to success,鈥� he offered some cautionary advice as well, for the ambitious. 鈥淧eople that are like me 鈥� forward-looking, a leader of an organization, trying to do something incredible 鈥� live in the future,鈥� he said. While that can help those looking to advance their careers and businesses realize their goals, it can come with a risk, he noted.

Living, mentally, in the future all the time can remove a person from the present. 鈥淵ou have to stop and live in the now because that鈥檚 all you have,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can remember my family would see me at the dinner table and sometimes say, 鈥榃here are you?鈥� I鈥檇 say, 鈥業鈥檓 right here.鈥� They鈥檇 say, 鈥楴o you鈥檙e not.鈥� They were right. I wasn鈥檛. I was somewhere else. Along the way, as you鈥檙e achieving great things, remember to stop and celebrate and live in the present.鈥�

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Congratulations to PhD graduate Jennifer Porat, who has received one of this year鈥檚 Governor General鈥檚 Gold Medals, which recognize the outstanding scholastic achievements of graduate students in Canada. She is among three recipients at York.

Porat earned a PhD in biology following the completion of her bachelor of science degree at 快播视频. Both degrees were pursued under the mentorship of Professor Mark Bayfield in the Department of Biology. Her research focused uncovering novel functions for RNA-modifying enzymes and understanding the mechanisms by which they promote RNA function and stability to carry out different cellular processes.

Porat credits Bayfield and his support for her decision to pursue graduate studies at 快播视频 and her positive experiences at the University. She also expresses gratitude to the Faculty of Graduate Studies 鈥� notably, its funding of conference travel that she urges other students to take advantage of.

鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly grateful to be receiving this honour,鈥� says Porat. 鈥淚鈥檝e been fortunate enough to conduct research that I am passionate about, so it is very gratifying to learn that other people are excited about my work as well.鈥�

Porat will continue that work as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University, still focused on RNA biology, in hopes of one day running her own lab.

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During the Faculty of Science Spring Convocation ceremony on June 14, 2024, Mike Wessinger will receive an honorary degree from 快播视频. He is among eight individuals receiving honorary doctorates during the 2024 Spring Convocation ceremonies at York in recognition of their contributions to community building, advocacy for social justice and philanthropy.

Wessinger is the current executive Chair of the board for PointClickCare 鈥� a software provider helping long-term and post-acute care providers 鈥� which he co-founded and served as chief executive officer of from 1995 to 2021. Throughout his leadership, he led the company to become the first cloud-based health information system for the senior care industry, and North America鈥檚 largest care collaboration network.

In his role as executive Chair, Wessinger continues to champion corporate culture, enhance governance, recruit diverse talent, and partner with internal and external boards and teams to solve critical health-care challenges. Outside of PointClickCare, he is also co-chair of the C100 board of directors, where he actively leverages his years of experience to coach and mentor leaders at the helm of rapidly scaling tech companies.

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Areeba Chaudhry - Gold Medal

Chaudhry, who majored in biomedical science, received the prestigious regional McCall MacBain and Life Science Ontario scholarships for her leadership and research experiences during her time at York. She also received three NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards, and in 2022, received second prize for best oral presentation at the Faculty鈥檚 Undergraduate Summer Research Conference. On campus, Chaudhry represented the student voice as an elected member of the Science Student Caucus, served as a Peer Mentor, and was hired as a PASS Leader to create supplementary lessons for first-year biology students. In fall 2023, she will be starting medical school at the University of Toronto to pursue her dream of becoming a physician.

Sarah Pullano 鈥� Gold Medal

Pullano, who majored in biology, received the 快播视频 President's Scholarship, the Toronto Transportation Club Scholarship, and the LiUNA! Local 183 Scholarship over her four years at York. In her last year of study, she became more involved by joining the Bethune College Council, which she says, 鈥渢aught me the importance of building a sense of community during my undergraduate career.鈥� During her final semester, she began volunteering in a lab, which ignited her interest in research and inspired to pursue an MSc at York under the supervision of Professor Nikola Kovinich in the Department of Biology.

Nicole Frias - Silver Medal

Frias, who majored in biochemistry, was the top student graduating from any program in the Department of Chemistry this year. The letters from her research mentors, with whom she held NSERC Undergraduate Summer Research Awards, highlighted how her exceptional intellect and natural curiosity enabled her to make significant research contributions as an undergraduate researcher, including co-authoring a . She also received the 2023 Canadian Society for Chemistry Silver Medal for her high academic standing.

Frias received the 2019 Student Life award for her contributions to the campus life of undergraduate students. She also served as a Science Ambassador, which involved meeting with prospective students and parents and working on social media campaigns, and as an Orientation Leader at Bethune College. As co-president of 鈥淏reaking Stigmas,鈥� she supported her fellow students by raising awareness around mental health.

She will be continuing her research career by pursuing graduate studies in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at the University of Toronto.

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Congratulations to PhD student Farwa Sajadi, who was recognized during the Faculty of Science Spring Convocation Ceremony with a President鈥檚 University-Wide Teaching Award (Teaching Assistant category) for enhancing the quality of learning and demonstrating innovation in teaching.

Sajadi, who recently completed a PhD in biology, was honoured with the Teaching Award for being a TA who fosters an academically enriched environment for learning, advancing student critical thinking and implementing creative approaches to promote student scholarship and engagement. According to her nominator, Professor Jean-Paul Paluzzi, she excelled in her roles as lab demonstrator, lab coordinator and course director in biology for undergraduate students.

鈥淪he is also highly innovative and collaborative in her teaching practices, as is demonstrated by her work during the COVID-19 pandemic to plan for labs being delivered in a hybrid format with limited in-person occupancy and students spread across three different rooms,鈥� the Senate Committee on Awards said in the announcement. She was further known to take initiative to help students and was a leader in volunteerism. In 2022, she earned the Richard Jarrell Excellence in Teaching at the Graduate Level Award from the Faculty of Science.

Sajadi will have her name engraved on the University-Wide Teaching Awards plaques displayed in Vari Hall.

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