Piskuric to receive Governor General’s medal at Fall Convocation
Hamilton native Nikol Piskuric is no stranger to major academic awards. After Friday's Fall Convocation, she'll be able to add the Governor General's Academic Medal to her impressive resume.
For Nikol Piskuric, the best part of receiving an award is being able to share it with her family. She’ll get to do just that later this week.
On Friday afternoon, the 28-year-old will be presented with the Governor General’s Academic Medal in front of her proud parents at the University’s Fall Convocation ceremony. Piskuric, who recently completed her PhD in the Department of Biology, says the award is a huge honour.
“I feel really privileged, and I’ve been very fortunate throughout my studies at McMaster,” says Piskuric. “Having my parents at Convocation makes it really special.”
The Governor General’s Academic Medal is presented annually to the graduate student who has achieved the highest academic standing in his or her degree program. Only one medal is awarded to each university, and past recipients include Canadian luminaries such as Pierre Trudeau, Tommy Douglas, Kim Campbell, Robert Bourassa, Robert Stanfield and Gabrielle Roy.
Piskuric, who grew up in Stoney Creek and graduated from Cardinal Newman Catholic Secondary School, also completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster in the Faculty of Science. She was nominated for the medal by Bhagwati Gupta, associate chair of Graduate Studies, and Colin Nurse, a professor and colleague in the Department of Biology. Piskuric worked in Nurse’s lab as a graduate student, and also completed her senior undergraduate thesis under his supervision. Her PhD research focused on the study and characterization of aortic body chemoreceptors in rats.
“There’s no way I would have received this award without Colin,” she says. “He’s been my mentor since I was an undergrad, and he’s always pushed me to reach new goals.”
Major awards are nothing new for the modest scholar. In 2008, Piskuric received the De Castro-Heymans-Neil Young Investigator Award, along with a gold medal for delivering the best presentation at the 2008 International Society for Arterial Chemoreception. She followed those feats one year later with a prestigious Vanier Graduate Scholarship – a $50,000 federal award created to attract and retain world-class doctoral students.
Along with the medal, she’ll also receive a personalized certificate signed by Governor General David Johnston.
Fall Convocation will take place on Friday, Nov. 16 at Hamilton Place. The 9:30 a.m. ceremony will involve the Faculties of Business, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, along with the Arts & Science Program. The 2:30 p.m. ceremony will feature the Faculties of Health Sciences and Science.
