Alumna Sylvie Lamoureux appointed to Order of Ontario

Respected scholar studies the postsecondary experience of Francophone students

February 26, 2015

Order of Ontario recipient Sylvie Lamoureux (MEd ’95; PhD ’07) may have left OISE, but the University of Ottawa faculty member carries a deep commitment to advancing education in Ontario imbibed during her student days here. Lamoureux was among 26 Ontarians appointed to the Order of Ontario this month by The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

“My studies at OISE played a pivotal role in me reaching my goals. Through its ongoing commitment to serving Ontario’s francophone community with its French-language graduate courses and support, OISE made me more aware of critical pedagogy and research, and so much more. My professors, world-leading experts in their fields, encouraged me to see that undertaking my doctoral studies was a realistic, attainable goal,” says Lamoureux.

Lamoureux’s academic supervisor at OISE, Normand Labrie, Scientific Director at the Fonds de recherché du Québec and Associate Dean of Research at OISE told OISE News that while still a master’s student, she became one of the youngest school principals in the country. And a few years later, she left a secure professional position to return at OISE as a full-time PhD student with the goal of contributing to the understanding of the conditions of access, perseverance and success of minority students in postsecondary education.

“As soon as she graduated and became a junior faculty member at the University of Ottawa, she immediately started to play a key role in reframing the administrative strategies of this institution to improve minority students’ recruitment and retention, always with one main motivation : the quality of students’ experience and ultimately their success.,” says Labrie. “Sylvie’s appointment to the Order of Ontario within less than 10 years after the completion of her PhD, in recognition of the impact of her academic work and its connection to the improvement of students’ life and success in postsecondary education, is quite an accomplishment, but in no way a surprise to me.

“Sylvie is a bright academic, a reliable collaborator, a person who is deeply committed to her community, as well as a remarkable humanist. I always felt very privileged to work with her over the years both as her supervisor and scientific collaborator.”

The Order of Ontario recognizes individuals who have demonstrated excellence and achievement in any field benefiting the people of Ontario or anywhere in the world, but in typical fashion Lamoureux deprecates her success and gives credit to others.

“I’m very humbled at being nominated for and receiving the Order of Ontario, particularly in the company of the other recipients,” she says. “For me, the Order of Ontario celebrates the many people who have encouraged me, modeled what it is to be of service and also facilitated wonderful opportunities for me to contribute to the advancement of education in Ontario, and in particular, French-language education in a minority context. It recognizes the many little steps taken over the past twenty-seven years to improve the quality of the student experience in the K-12 and postsecondary systems, and to facilitate bringing the student voice to the foreground. It provides me a renewed sense of engagement to continue my research and be of service.”