Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is celebrating seven outstanding graduates whose work is changing industries and communities across Canada and beyond.
The 2025 Alumni Achievement Awards recognize leaders who embody TMU's commitment to excellence, leadership and service.
The 2025 Alumni Achievement Awards will celebrate exceptional TMU alumni whose achievements reflect the strength of our programs, built on the integration of theory and professional practice. Background image photo credit: Rene Böhmer via Unsplash.
This year's awards celebrate alumni trailblazers whose work is transforming industries, uplifting communities and inspiring the next generation of leaders. These alumni are tackling everything from kidney transplant research to bringing diverse voices to Canadian literature.
The honourees will be recognized at a special ceremony on October 23, 2025 at the Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre (SLC).
Alumni Award of Distinction
This award honours alumni who have achieved extraordinary professional success while giving back to their community.
Varinder "Vinny" Bhathal (Business Management '04)
Managing Partner, Chief Controller & Treasurer, Sprott Inc. and Chief Financial Officer, Sprott Asset Management LP
Varinder ("Vinny") Bhathal oversees the finance and investment operations departments of Sprott Inc., a multi-billion-dollar global asset manager focused on precious metals and critical materials.
Beyond her corporate success, Bhathal champions women's leadership through her Women Get On Board, which prepares the next generation of women corporate directors. She also worked with The Neighbourhood Group, serving over 45,000 low-income people across Toronto.
Currently, she chairs the Dean's Advisory Council at the Ted Rogers School of Management.
Paul Hunter (Journalism '82)
CBC senior correspondent in Washington, D.C.
For more than 25 years, Paul Hunter has brought major world events into Canadian living rooms. His reporting includes the Haiti earthquake, Barack Obama's first election night and the Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.
Before joining CBC's Washington, D.C. bureau in 2008, Hunter reported from the U.K, the Middle East and Afghanistan, where he embedded with Canadian forces. He now serves as a substitute anchor for CBC News The National.
Joy Malbon (Journalism '82)
CTV bureau chief, Washington, D.C.
Joy Malbon's 35-year career has taken her to the biggest stories around the globe. From her Washington base since 2005, she's covered three presidential administrations, the Boston Marathon bombings, Hurricane Katrina and the Trump impeachment hearings.
Her career highlights include being the first Canadian journalist to report from Paris on Princess Diana's death, covering the Iraq War in the Middle East and witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany.
Steve Orsini (Urban and Regional Planning '81)
President and CEO, Council of Ontario Universities
Steve Orsini leads the Council of Ontario Universities with over 30 years of distinguished public service experience. His impressive career includes roles as secretary of the Cabinet and deputy minister of finance; and vice-president of policy and public affairs with the Ontario Hospital Association.
He serves on the boards of the Ontario Brain Institute and Canadian Ditchley Foundation, and a senior fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute.
Warren G. Salmon (Applied Computer Science '85)
Founder and CEO of Black Board International and First Fridays
Warren G. Salmon built Black Board International, an online service company providing tech products and content for people of African descent. He also founded First Fridays, a monthly networking event connecting business leaders with speakers from the arts, education, politics and business.
His community-building work has earned him a BBPA Harry Jerome Award for Technology and Innovation and a King Charles III Coronation Medal.
Isadore Sharp Outstanding Recent Graduate Award
This award celebrates emerging leaders who've achieved distinction within 10 years of graduation.
Dr. Eno Hysi (Medical Physics '10, Biomedical Physics MSc '12, PhD '20)
Canada Research Chair
Dr. Eno Hysi led the world's first clinical trial exploring how photoacoustic imaging could assess donated kidneys before transplant, addressing a critical challenge in treating kidney disease.
His groundbreaking work earned him TMU's first-ever Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2020 and the John Charles Polanyi Prize in Physics in 2021. He now directs theTranslational Ultrasound and Photoacoustic Imaging Laboratory at St. Michael's Hospital.
Anuja Varghese (Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Management '19)
Author
Anuja Varghese is bringing fresh perspectives to Canadian literature. Her work has appeared in CBC Books and Queer Toronto Literary Magazine.
Her debut short story collection, Chrysalis, won the 2023 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and Writers' Trust of Canada's 2023 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2+ Emerging Writers. Varghese is also a fundraising professional in the non-profit sector, working for organizations like YWCA Hamilton.
TMU's transformative impact
Now in its 27th year, the Alumni Achievement Awards bring together the TMU community to honour graduates who exemplify TMU's tradition of academic excellence with real-world impact.
Together, these recipients join a proud circle of TMU alumni whose journeys continue to inspire. Explore more of the incredible alumni who have been recognized for their impact.
