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Alumni Awards & Recognition

A Call for Nominations.

Alumni Awards & Recognition

A Call for Nominations.

Purple lights interspersed across a dark background.

Alumni Awards & Recognition

A Call for Nominations.

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  3. Alumni Awards & Recognition

Western’s Nursing Alumni Chapter is pleased to offer an annual awards program that recognizes significant contributions by an alumnus to the university community, the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing and nursing profession. Nominate an outstanding Western nursing alumna or alumnus for a Nursing Alumni of Distinction Award or the Rising Star Award. The Awards are presented each year at the Nursing Homecoming Event. The recipients will receive an elegant Alumni of Distinction award as a keepsake.

Criteria

Rising Star Award:

This award is presented to an alumnus who has graduated within the past 10 years from the undergraduate or graduate programs, in recognition of outstanding career achievements and/or contributions to the School, their local nursing or health care community. The recipient is a role model for those new to the profession and sets a standard of excellence to which others can aspire.

Nursing Alumni of Distinction Award:

This award recognizes outstanding lifetime accomplishments of an alumnus who aligns with one or more areas below:

Professional achievement in clinical care
  • This alumnus is dedicated to the Nursing profession and goes above and beyond in their line of work and makes a significant impact on groups, individuals, and/or the larger Nursing profession as a role model
Significant contributions to research and/or education
  • This alumnus stands out in the field of research as having made compelling and impactful progress towards the advancement of their discipline and is committed to continuing their learning and education either through everyday practice or higher education
Commitment to community and leadership
  • This alumnus is committed to bettering the Nursing community, successfully enriching the lives of others through community service and displaying exemplary leadership

Click Here for the Nomination Form


2026 Nursing Alumni Award Recipients

Rising Star Award: Safeyyah Raji

Safeyyah Raji is a Lecturer at the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at Western University and the Ontario Regional Lead for the Canadian Black Nurses Alliance (CBNA). A Registered Nurse and certified in psychiatric and mental health nursing, Safeyyah maintains an active clinical practice in adult mental health. Her clinical, educational, scholarship, and leadership work is grounded in mental health advocacy, anti-Black racism, and advancing health equity. In her role with CBNA, Safeyyah supports initiatives that strengthen Black nursing leadership, mentorship, and advocacy, while amplifying the lived experiences of Black nurses to inform systemic change in healthcare. As an educator, she is committed to preparing nurses to deliver compassionate, person-centred, and equity-oriented care. Through her teaching, leadership, and advocacy, she advances nursing practice that is more accountable, inclusive, and responsive to the lived experiences of Black communities. Safeyyah is currently pursuing her PhD in Nursing at Western University, with interests in anti-Black racism, mentorship, mental health, and health equity.

Alumni of Distinction Award: Karen Perkin

Karen Perkin was the Vice President of Patient Care and Chief Nurse Executive at St. Joseph's Health Care London for over 16 years. She recently retired from this position after a 42 year career at St. Joseph's in many different positions. Karen possesses over 25 years experience in nursing leadership roles. She obtained her Master of Science in Nursing from Western University in 1994 and was honoured to be recognized with the Alexander Hotson Award for highest academic standing. She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Windsor in 1984. Karen is an Associate Professor at the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University.

Karen has co-published articles in the areas of professional nursing practice and leadership and has participated in and sponsored research in the clinical setting. She has presented numerous papers at national and international conferences and has taught nursing students at Fanshawe College and Western University at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Karen is passionate about patient and family-centered care, professionally enriching practice environments for all health care disciplines, visionary leadership, strategic planning and system transformation. She is truly grateful to have had the opportunity to serve in health care over these years and is thrilled to be the 2026 recipient of the Alumni of Distinction Award.

Past Award Winners

Rising Star Award: Ryan Chan

Ryan Chan is an Assistant Professor (Teaching Scholar) and the Simulated Education Faculty Lead at the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University. Ryan’s teaching, research, and scholarly interests include digital health/nursing informatics, nursing education, and clinical simulation/simulation-based learning. In addition to his teaching and scholarly activities, Ryan continues to engage in service to the nursing and informatics community through his active involvement as an executive member within various local, provincial, and national professional associations, including as President of the Canadian Nursing Informatics Association and a Board Member of the Registered Nurses Foundation of Ontario.

Alumni of Distinction Award: Janet Rennick

Dr. Janet Rennick recently retired from her position as a Nurse Scientist at The Montreal Children’s Hospital of the McGill University Health Centre, and Associate Professor at the Ingram School of Nursing and the Department of Pediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at McGill University. She graduated from Western University in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree and began her career as a staff nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at The Hospital for Sick Children. In 1987, she completed her Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Toronto and subsequently began working as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Pediatric ICU at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. After deciding to pursue a research career, she was admitted to the doctoral program at McGill’s Ingram School of Nursing and graduated with her PhD in 1999. She became the first Nurse Scientist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and was appointed as a Scientist in the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Dr. Rennick received multiple Clinical Research Scholar Awards from the Quebec Health Research Fund, and her research program was funded primarily by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Her research focused on: (1) Children’s psychological and behavioral outcomes following Pediatric ICU hospitalization; (2) Enhancing patient and family-centred care for critically ill children with medical complexity; and (3) Innovations in care to promote healthy recovery following critical illness. She has received numerous awards, including the Order of Nurses of Quebec’s 2014 Prix Florence for exceptional research contributions. Dr. Rennick has over 65 publications and 140 presentations, has been an invited speaker at national and international meetings, and has supervised over 40 graduate students in their clinical research. She is thrilled to be receiving Western’s Nursing Alumni of Distinction Award today!

2024 Tracey JF Colella, PhD
2024 Jennifer Stinson, BScN’88
2024 Rising Star: Sarah Bissex, BScN’17
2023 Cindy-Lee Dennis, MScN’95
2023 Rising Star: Alexis Smith, BScN’16, MScN’18
2022 Laura Wilding, BScN’90
2021 Mary Anne Andrusyszyn, MScN’86
2021 Rising Star: Susana Caxaj, PhD’13
2021 Dionne Sinclair, BScN’98
2021 Carol Wong, BScN’71, MScN’86
2019 Yvette Laforet-Fliesser, BScN'74, MScN'81
2019 Rising Star: Jennifer Martin, BScN’08
2018 Janice McCallum, MScN’79
2018 Dr. Catherine Ward-Griffin, BScN’79, MScN’88
2017 Rising Star: Kimie Soriano, BScN'07
2016 Kelly Metcalfe, BScN'96
2015 Eileen Denomy, BScN ’87, MScN’00
2014 Heather Whittle, BScN’90, MScN’94
2013 Elsie MacMaster, BScN’62, MScN’77
2012 Annabel Sells, BScN’67