University of Guelph professor Georgia Mason was named as a finalist this fall by the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies for its inaugural Award for Graduate Mentorship.

As the organization’s highest honour, the new annual award recognizes mentors who inspire, guide and challenge graduate students to strive for academic excellence, to share their knowledge beyond academia and to engage with their scholarly community.

Mason was shortlisted among 12 finalists from 81 universities offering graduate programs across Canada.

“Graduate advising is my favourite part of being an academic,” said Mason, a professor in the Department of Animal Biosciences. “I’m really grateful to my fantastic graduate students – past and present – for nominating me. It’s an honour.”

She has supervised more than 50 graduate students and helped them find fulfilling post-graduate positions all over the world as leaders in various fields including academia and policy-making.

Providing opportunities for graduate students such as regular journal clubs and collaborative grant-writing, Mason promotes critical thinking and scholarly excellence. Most of her students hold prestigious research awards such as Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council awards and Ontario Graduate Scholarships.

“I am hardly surprised that Dr. Mason was recognized as one of Canada’s outstanding graduate mentors,” said Prof. Ben Bradshaw, assistant vice-president (graduate studies). “Her record of training and launching graduate students into academic and professional positions tied to their research is unparalleled.”

He added: “She also shows that achieving scholarly success can be done with graduate students at your side. Indeed, of her 210 publications to date, 103 were co-authored with graduate students, who collectively gained 139 authorships, including in Nature and Science.”

Read more about Prof. Georgia Mason and the 2018 Award for Graduate Mentorship.