Dr. Lawford, of Bishop's University's Department of Psychology, has been selected as one of this year's ten 3M National Teaching Fellows.
Dr. Lawford is an award-winning educator, and her impact has been recognized with the highest honours of teaching at the university. She is also a Canada Research Chair and one of the leading scholars on generativity, which is a field dedicated to how and why we create legacies in service of others.
"What an honour to receive the 3M National Teaching Fellowship and to join this community of transformative and creative professors! I am most grateful for the support of the Jarislowsky Chair and the mentoring network she created for stewarding this process," notes Dr. Lawford.
"Bishop's University is a place where we can be curious about teaching and research while also engaging in diverse communities both locally and farther afield. Ever since I arrived at Bishop's in 2012, I have had the pleasure of learning from and with my students and youth across Canada."
Dr. Lawford notes, "I'm committed to helping connect other faculty and administrators to authentically include student voice in decision-making, because when generativity spans from youth across adulthood, building generative spaces becomes even more collaborative. Part of my legacy work includes building supporting spaces within institutions that acknowledge youth generativity."
In 2021 she received the William and Nancy Turner Teaching Award, the highest recognition at Bishop's University. Her work has also been recognized by the Robert Gordon Educational Leadership Fund and the Student Representative Council (SRC) Social Sciences Division Teaching Award. For over 10 years she has worked with the Students Commission of Canada, a non-profit dedicated to amplifying youth voice and supporting their legacy work She currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Youth Development Dr. Lawford has been awarded over $8 million in research funding from diverse granting agencies, including Tri-council, Public Safety Canada, and UNICEF for her work with young people, much of that funding going towards paying students and youth for their work. Her new book with Jessica Riddell, Unlocking Superhero Powers: Metaphors and Mentorship in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (forthcoming), helps readers unlock the qualities of generativity as superhero powers to make the world more equitable and just.
Dr. Jessica Riddell, also a 3M National Teaching Fellow (2015) and Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Excellence at Bishop's University nominated Dr. Lawford for this fellowship and says this: "Dr. Lawford extends learning beyond the classroom and into the world with student-led initiatives that empower students via conferences, summits, knowledge mobilization, co-chairing panels, leadership institutes - where her undergraduate students are authentically engaged as partners and colleagues, co-authors and co-inquirers. Dr. Lawford is a beloved and transformative educator."
