One of Ontario's top honours for teaching has been awarded to Dr. Wesley Burr, recognizing his transformative approach to teaching statistics and student learning. Professor Burr, associate professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, is the recipient of the 2025 Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) Teaching Award, a prestigious honour that recognizes extraordinary contributions to post-secondary education in the province.
President Cathy Bruce, who is a past OCUFA Teaching Award recipient at Trent, offered praise for Prof. Burr in her nomination letter, stating "Professor Burr's infectious positive energy and spirit infuse his work at all levels. He contributes to important academic bodies, such as the Faculty Board and has distinguished himself as an institutional leader in pedagogical innovation and teaching excellence. This can be evidenced by his many accolades. To date, Professor Burr has won more internal teaching awards than any other faculty member at Trent University a truly astounding feat."
Since joining Trent in 2016, Prof. Burr has kept pace and redefined excellence in teaching while navigating a shifting educational landscape. As the University's lead statistician, he rebuilt the entire statistics curriculum, developing 11 new courses and launching a new specialization in Statistics within the Honours B.Sc. in Mathematics. He pioneered the use of mastery-based grading in statistics in Canada, empowering students to revise and resubmit work until they achieve full understanding an approach that has been widely praised for reducing stress and deepening learning.
"The overarching goal is to develop students from being only travelers on the journey to trained navigators, who know both where they came from and where they have arrived to, and who are now capable of striking off in new, unexplored directions and discovering new wonders and knowledge," said Prof. Burr, who describes himself as a navigator journeying alongside students through complex material.
To foster community and accessibility in large classes, Prof. Burr implemented a Discord-based digital support hub. In his 2023 fall term course with over 800 students, participants on the server shared more than 110,000 messages (30,000 of which were written by Prof. Burr), creating a vibrant, real-time learning community where students supported one another and received timely guidance from instructors.
"Wesley demonstrates a steadfast commitment to student engagement and learning. Against the odds (he teaches statistics after all!)," said Dr. Fergal O'Hagan, interim dean of the School of Education and associate dean of the Trent Teaching Commons. "He provides students with high quality, accessible learning experiences designed to stretch and build their capacity for critical thought in a way that students clearly appreciate."
Prof. Burr's mentorship has left a lasting legacy at Trent and beyond. Dozens of students have gone on to graduate studies and successful careers in academia, government, and industry.
"Not only is Wes an avid researcher, he is a naturally gifted educator, driven by a passion for teaching and a deep satisfaction in watching others learn and succeed," says Sophie Bull, a former student of Prof. Burr who is now a program analyst at the Chief Financial Officer Branch at Health Canada. "He understands that providing the right level of challenge is essential for stimulating core learning and cultivating growth."
