Congratulations to Alexandra Malinowski, UofT Alumni Association Student Leadership Awardee 2023
The Department would like to congratulate Alexandra Malinowski for her outstanding contributions to leadership and service to the UofT community! Alexandra has sparked numerous initiatives in various positions with the Pharmacology Graduate Student Association (PGSA) that have been truly transformative, as Vice President and Philanthropy Direction Head. For this and other achievements, Alexandra was recently awarded a prestigious and competitive University of Toronto Student Leadership Award from the the University of Toronto Alumni Association.
The University of Toronto Student Leadership Award continues U of T’s long-standing tradition of recognizing outstanding student leadership, volunteer service, and commitment to the university. This tradition began with the Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award, which ran from 1994 - 2019 and was named in honour of Mr. Gordon Cressy, former Vice-President, Development and University Relations. In naming the award, the University of Toronto Alumni Association recognized Cressy's leadership and volunteer service across various spheres, as well as his term at the university. During the award’s 25-year history, it celebrated the exemplary contributions of more than 4,000 students whose commitment and volunteerism had a lasting impact on their peers and the university The University of Toronto Student Leadership Award (UTSLA) continues the spirit of the retired Cressy Award. Recipients of the UTSLA join the distinguished community of past Cressy Award recipients in being honoured for their exemplary leadership and volunteer service to U of T.
Alexandra led several impactful initiatives, including for instance, organizing a full week of activities for incoming graduate students during our orientation. Alexandra was also instrumental in launching a multicultural social event for our Department which was a wonderful and thoughtful way to celebrate the diversity of our Department trainees and Faculty. Her inspiring ideas and her tireless dedication to creating a supportive and inclusive student learning environment have led to these worthwhile initiatives becoming reality and as a Department we owe her a debt of gratitude.
Dr. Peter McPherson, Associate Chair Graduate Education, comments "It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with Alexandra, her excellent insight, organizational skills, hard work and leadership generated an ambitious yet highly successful year of programs and activities for our graduate students and our Department was lucky to benefit from her direction as Vice President. Her leadership contributed to the most successful and impactful Pharmacology Graduate Student Association programming that I have seen in my eighteen years with the Department.”
Alexandra adds “I’m truly grateful for the encouragement and opportunities that have been offered to me through the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto. I am proud to be part of this community where I’ve had the privilege of pursuing cutting-edge research projects and the opportunity to develop my leadership skills through various training programs and mentorship opportunities. These experiences have enriched my personal and professional growth in countless ways, and I am honoured to be part of such an inspiring and supportive community.”
