Celebrating three years of research excellence

On April 22, members of the King’s community gathered at Museum London for the Faculty Research Celebration, a year-end event to honour the accomplishments of faculty from 2020-2022.

It was a chance for King’s to come together, in person, for those celebrations that had to be postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. “The event was for three years of recognition of the excellence of King’s and to celebrate one of the core aspects of our mission: research. Our research has been theoretically and politically timely while continuously groundbreaking,” said Dr. Gillian Balfour, Vice-President and Academic Dean.

“King’s is a powerhouse with the potential for outstanding research. I am thrilled we were able to have this explicit celebration of our research excellence,” says Dr. David Malloy, King’s President.

Dr. Krista Lysack, Professor of English and Chair of the Department of English, French, and Writing, was announced the 2021-2022 recipient of the Hugh Mellon Excellence in Research Award. Dr. Lysack was joined in this honour by Dr. Robert Ventresca, Professor of History (2020-2021 recipient), Dr. Renée Soulodre-La France, Professor of History (2019-2020 recipient), and Dr. Rick Csiernik, Professor of the School of Social Work (2018-2019 recipient).

The King’s University College Hugh Mellon Excellence in Research Award is named in honour of Dr. Hugh Mellon, late Associate Professor of Political Science. This award recognizes the scholarly work of a faculty member at King’s, which reflects Dr. Mellon’s avid academic engagement, his pursuit of knowledge and its dissemination through publication, and his willingness to ever renew his research through innovative partnerships and consistent commitment to research excellence.

Dr. Jinette Comeau, Assistant Professor of Sociology, was announced as the 2021-2022 recipient of the Early Career Excellence in Research Award. Dr. Jordan Fairbairn, Associate Professor of Sociology (2020-2021 recipient) and Dr. Bharati Sethi, Associate Professor of the School of Social Work (2019-2020 recipient) were also recognized for this honour.

This award acknowledges scholars in the early stages of their professional lives and recognizes faculty members who have earned distinction for themselves and for King’s University College as a result of the outstanding characteristics and significance of their research. 

The event also celebrated the recipients of the inaugural King’s Research Excellence Fund Program, valued at $1 million. The recipients of the funding include:

King’s Research Excellence Chair (Early-Career) - $45,000 ($15k/year for 3 years):

• Dr. Bharati Sethi, Associate Professor, School of Social Work – “Experiences of Muslim Immigrant Parents of Children with Disabilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Photovoice Study”

King’s Research Excellence Chair (Established) – $45,000 ($15k/year for 3 years)

• Dr. Joseph Michalski, Professor, Department of Sociology – “Couples’ Conflict Resolution Strategies: The Social Structure and Interpersonal Dynamics of Violent and Non-Violent Encounters”

King’s Research Excellence Scholar Grants - $10,000/year for 1 year

• Dr. Andrea Lawlor, Associate Professor, Department of Politics and International Relations – “A Lack of Time, Money and Resources: Analysing the Systematic and Situational Factors Contributing to Burnout Among Ontario Midwives”
• Dr. Corina Sandu, Associate Professor, Department of English, French, and Writing – “Les débuts de la presse en français en Indochine [The Beginnings of the French Press in Indochina]”
• Dr. Tom Malleson, Associate Professor, Department of Social Justice and Peace Studies – “Economic Hierarchy or Democracy: Should Large Firms be Governed Through Codetermination?”

There was also a collective recognition of grants awards, both internal and external, that have been awarded for 2021-2022.

Dr. Malloy called the event “an overwhelming success.”

“Recognising the outstanding research being conducted at King’s is so very important to the scholarly culture of this great university. We have developed a global reputation as an outstanding teaching university and we certainly have the potential to be a research powerhouse – the very best of both worlds. These are not mutually exclusive worlds but are mutually informing and supporting. Congratulations to all of our award winners and thank you for all you do for King’s University College,” said Dr. Malloy.