The Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence is an annual merit-based award given to one professor and one teaching assistant (TA) in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS). The award recognizes and rewards academic staff who have demonstrated excellent ability in teaching and supporting their students.
It is named after Ian Greene, a professor emeritus (retired) in the School of Public Policy and Administration. The award was created by his former students in recognition of his outstanding drive and effort to teach and make learning a unique experience. It is overseen and presented by the Student Council of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (SCOLAPS).
How to Nominate
All students in the Faculty of LA&PS are eligible to nominate one professor and one TA of their choice. These do not need to be professors or TAs that taught the student this academic year, but they do need to be current, practicing members of York University’s academic staff.
Nominations are made entirely by LA&PS students, which ensures that truly outstanding professors and TAs — those who make a difference in the academic life of their students — receive the recognition they deserve.
Nominations for the 2026 Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence are now open. Submit your nomination by May 4, 2026.
How Recipients are Selected
The standing Ian Greene Director will form an adjudication committee consisting of 5 LA&PS students (not serving in the Executive/Director team) to review all the nominations submitted after the nomination period. After thorough deliberation among the committee members, the winners will be selected. When evaluating potential recipients, the members will not just consider the number of nominations a given nominee receives, but also the quality of feedback students leave for them.
Student-led Research Project
SCOLAPS is currently undertaking an informal, student-led research project to qualitatively analyze the written nominations submitted for this year's award.
This project involves an AI-assisted thematic analysis covering two broad areas: (1) identifying the broad qualities that students associate with teaching excellence and (2) identifying how students tend to respond to having excellent teachers.
We intend to find various insights into what we, as students, associate with teaching excellence at York, and share the findings with the university community to encourage and celebrate teaching excellence.
2026 Award Recipients
Assistant Professor Maxxine Rattner and teaching assistant Pablo Roy-Rojas have been named 2026 recipients of the Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence.
Maxxine Rattner
Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
Rattner is recognized for her ability to make complex material accessible, her fairness in assessment and her dedication to supporting students beyond the classroom.
Students described her ability to deliver complex material with clarity and preparation, her fairness in assessment, and mentorship that went well beyond course requirements.
I am really moved by the students who took the time to nominate me, and I am also grateful to the committee of students who invested time over the summer to review nominations. SCOLAPS as a whole is a dedicated group, invested in fostering connections among students and between students and faculty — I am inspired by their efforts and passion.
- Maxxine Rattner
Pablo Roy-Rojas
Teaching Assistant, Department of Social Science
Roy-Rojas is recognized for his fairness and for consistently offering constructive feedback and making challenging concepts accessible to students.
Students highlighted his fairness, constructive marking, useful feedback, and strong subject knowledge, along with his ability to make complex course concepts accessible.
I am deeply grateful to receive the Ian Greene Award for Teaching Excellence, and I accept it on behalf of the students who have shaped my teaching as much as I have tried to shape their learning.
I have never believed that a classroom is a place where knowledge is simply handed down. Every student arrives with a lifetime of experience, assumptions, and questions about how power works in society. My job is not to replace that knowledge but to take it seriously, to accompany students in examining the ideas they have absorbed as "common sense" and turning them into a more coherent, autonomous, and critical understanding of the world.
- Pablo Roy-Rojas
