The UFV Board of Governors and Senate recognize academic excellence in research, teaching, and other scholarly activities that support student learning and enrich educational programs at UFV.
The Research Excellence Award is presented each year to a UFV faculty member whose research has demonstrated innovation, mentorship, academic impact, and an interface of teaching and research.
Senate accepts Faculty Excellence Award nominations annually each fall. For more information, please email UFVSecretariat@ufv.ca.
Dr. Gillian Hatfield
Faculty of Health Sciences, Kinesiology
Hatfield, currently director of the School of Kinesiology, focuses her research on community health. Over the past five years she has studied the effects of knee osteoarthritis in older adults, looked at the impact of physical activity in post-partem women, and investigated the positive benefits of exercise on physical and mental health.
Over that time, Hatfield has 11 peer-reviewed publications with two more under review and six in progress. She was invited to speak at the North American Congress on Biomechanics in Ottawa in 2022, and a major fitness industry event in Los Angeles in 2023.
Faculty profile page
Colleague Michael Gaetz, a former winner of this award, nominated Hatfield. He says her contributions extend well beyond her own work, noting that she chairs the UFV Research Advisory Council, the Human Research Ethics Board, and the UFV Animal Care Committee (which includes the welfare of animals in research at UFV).
“She’s also a member of the Senate Research Committee, and the School of Kinesiology Undergraduate Research Excellence Award Review Committee,” Gaetz writes in his nomination letter. “Suffice to say, research would look very different at UFV without Dr. Hatfield’s involvement.”
“Her dedication to UFV’s vision is evident in how she produces high-quality research that positively impacts our local community and provides students with real world transferable research skills. Gillian’s high-level research-oriented service impacts UFV and make this a great place to do research. We are very fortunate to have her here at UFV.”
Read the full story from UFV Today
Past Research Excellence Award recipients
2023 | Dr. Edward Akuffo, Political Science
2022 | Dr. James Bedard, Biology
2021 | Dr. Scott Sheffield, History
2020 | Dr. Robert Harding, Social Work and Human Services
2019 | Dr. Irwin Cohen, Criminology and Criminal Justice
2018 | Dr. Kathy Keiver, Kinesiology
2017 | Dr. Miriam Nichols, English
2016 | Dr. Derek Harnett, Physics
2015 | Dr. Lenore Newman, Agriculture, Geography and the Environment
2014 | Dr. Michael Gaetz, Kinesiology and Physical Education
2013 | Dr. Noham Weinberg, Chemistry
2012 | Dr. Olav Lian, Geography and the Environment
