Shafik Bhalloo and Anthony Chan announced as TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award 2013 winners

Beedie School of Business lecturers Shafik Bhalloo and Anthony Chan have been named as recipients of the 2013 TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award, the highest teaching honour at SFU’s Beedie School of Business.

The TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Awards are presented each year to the two teachers at Beedie who exemplify qualities such as engagement, organization, discipline, enthusiasm and support in their teaching.

Since 1990, Beedie School of Business students, faculty and alumni have nominated teachers from both undergraduate and postgraduate programs for the prestigious award based upon excellence and distinction in teaching and in teaching-related activities such as course development and teaching materials preparation. The nominations are then scrutinized by the Teaching Effectiveness Committee, who select the award recipients based on the nominations and testimonials from a sample of the nominee’s former students.

Bhalloo, a graduate of Simon Fraser University, teaches business ethics, employment law and commercial law. He joined the Beedie School of Business in 2008 as a sessional lecturer, and since 2000 has been a partner at law firm Kornfeld LLP, where he focuses on corporate commercial litigation, general civil litigation, and labour and employment law.

“I am honored to have received this award, particularly in the Beedie School of Business which has so many first rate teachers, many of whom I could only hope to emulate,” says Bhalloo. “I also want to acknowledge and thank the student body who undoubtedly were instrumental in making this award a reality for me. Having such bright and internationally diverse students share their different perspectives leads to a better debate and understanding of the substantive materials I cover in the class.”

Chan, a graduate of SFU’s MBA program, joined the school as systems consultant in 2002, and currently teaches classes in building business systems and strategy. Prior to joining Beedie, he taught at SFU’s School of Computing Science between 1999 and 2010.

“This award belongs to all the Beedie School of Business teachers, who make the school the academic powerhouse that it is,” says Chan. “Many of the past award recipients are teachers whom I admired and have benefited from as a student, so to be recognized alongside them is a great honor.”

In total, 37 different teachers at the Beedie School of Business have won the TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award, with winners subsequently asked to assist the Teaching Effectiveness Committee in choosing the award winners for the following year. Previous winners of the award include Anne MacDonald, who this year won the SFU Excellence in Teaching Award, Rick Iverson, Ian McCarthy, Peter Tingling, Andrew Gemino, Beedie School Dean Daniel Shapiro, and three-time award winner Mark Wexler.