From the Bottom of Our Hearts, Thank You Steve!

Dr. Steve Gedeon is SIFE Ryerson’s Faculty Advisor. Dr. Gedeon was recently awarded the President’s Award for Teaching Excellence. This award recognizes a Ryerson educator who has demonstrated continuing teaching excellence and who has made contributions to advancing teaching and learning at Ryerson. Here are Dr. Gedeon’s accomplishments:

The 2010 recipient of the award is Steve Gedeon from the Ted Rogers School of Business Management. Steve has dedicated an enormous amount of passion and personal time to student success and excellence, including four extremely successful student-directed projects at Ryerson: Students in Free Enterprise (the largest SIFE team in Canada); the Digital Media Zone; the Ryerson Angel Network; and the Ryerson Entrepreneur Institute (Canada’s only student-run entrepreneurship centre). Steve is also a past winner of the Provost’s Experiential Teaching Award and continues to encourage his students to excel academically through hands-on experience.

Dr. Gedeon holds a PhD from MIT, an MBA from the University of Toronto, is the Director of Ryerson Entrepreneurship Institute (REI) and the list keeps going. What makes Dr. Gedeon invaluable is the fact that he gets us; university students. It sounds simple, but he has the ability to connect with each one of us on the SIFE Ryerson team without looking down at us.

The President’s Award for Teaching Excellence is a big deal and with SIFE Ryerson’s success at the 2010 ACE Canada National Exposition, we couldn’t let this be a flash in the pan. So here’s what we did: we asked SIFE Ryerson “what does Steve mean to you as a faculty advisor?” Here’s the overwhelming response from SIFE Ryerson:

“I would sum it up as: “a moral sanction to achieve greatness.” The first thing to me when I took his class was: “its OK to succeed here.” That kind of confidence and spirit of excellence was extremely refreshing” – Marko H

“Whenever I look at Steve, I see a man who has lived his life and is eager to share it with us. He is not only an inspiration because of his experiences, but most importantly, his character. He is honest, genuine, and caring. He doesn’t sugar coat, he doesn’t bullshit, he tells it like it is so that we can grow. Seeing our transition into “adulthood” is his reward, he gets to say, “I taught him/her and look at them now, its because of me!” – Alex K

“Steve is not just a faculty advisor, but a true friend who helps us not only identify what we want to achieve in life, but also guides us in visioning our path to success.  Overall, he’s one of a kind and we’re truly blessed to have him.” – Vaishna M

“Steve is like a father to us. He is patient and we know that we can rely on him no matter what.” – Jonathan T

“Steve is far more than a faculty advisor. Steve is a mentor, coach, role model, and most importantly an inspiration. His advice and support have allowed me to grow both personally and professionally – ultimately enabling me to set and achieve my goals. As a professor, Steve is able to connect with students on a level most professors are not capable of – helping students achieve their full potential. Congratulations on the award – Steve definitely deserves it.” – Mark C

“Steve is one of the most influential people in my life and I’ve known him for less than a year. Every conversation with him has lead to spotting opportunities and incredible insights which will pay noticeable dividends in the near future for my professional career and my personal growth. For me, Steve is more than a faculty advisor; he is a mentor, a coach and most importantly, a friend. Steve is invaluable to the growth and sustainability of SIFE Ryerson and we couldn’t have nearly been as successful without a coach cheering us on no matter what the circumstance.” – Nehal K

“Steve as a faculty advisors means having someone there to ask even the stupidest of questions to and not feel judged. It means having a reliable teacher that will answer emails even in the wee hours when we need him most. Most of all, Steve as a faculty advisor means having someone smart, friendly and especially reliable to guide SIFE whenever we need him. He doesn’t just help with the bare minimum, but helps us whenever we need him (even if we don’t know it yet!). Steve most certainly deserves faculty advisor of the year!” – Laura M

“He goes above and beyond every day to encourage learning and development. I have learned more in the last four years working with Steve than I ever thought possible. Steve is a professor that makes me proud to be a Ryerson student and I cannot thank him enough for his unwavering support and commitment to helping my colleagues and me succeed. If you have the opportunity to get to know Steve, make sure you take it. I promise  you won’t regret it.”  - Andrea B

“He inspires you by finding the perfect balance between challenging you mentally and supporting your decisions whole heartedly.” – Susan T

“It gives you the feeling of trust and support. Knowing that there is someone, not just in this university, but in this world that isn’t related to you, or owes you anything – that is willing to sacrifice their time to give you advice, and provide you with opportunities that you would not have otherwise. On top of that, this is someone who is always “on”, always supportive, always advising and always smiling. No matter what is going wrong in their world, to us they are the sun – even if they’re not shining on us, we know it’s shining somewhere else.” =)  - Rohan S

“Steve is kind of like SIFE Ryerson’s father. I hope he doesn’t see that at “Steve is old” because that’s not what I mean! It means that Steve simultaneously gives advice, yet sits back and lets you make your own mistakes. He’s the first person to congratulate you, but he’s also the first person to criticize (constructively, of course). So, in a way, he takes on a parent role.” – Lisa P

Steve, from all of us at SIFE Ryerson, thank you for all of your help!