2018 Richard C. Tees Distinguished Leadership Award Winner: Dr. Aimée Surprenant

Dr. Aimée M. Surprenant is Professor of Psychology and Dean of Graduate Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is an outstanding researcher who has made important contributions to our understanding of human memory. Aimée has provided extraordinary leadership and exemplary service to the CSBBCS community. As such, she is a highly deserving recipient of the CSBBCS Richard C. Tees Distinguished Leadership Award.

Aimée has been a highly effective co-organizer of two major CSBBCS Annual Meetings: the 2009 meeting in York, UK, and the 2018 meeting in St. John’s NL. Remarkably, these have both been joint meetings with the Experimental Psychology Society, which presents extra organizational and logistical challenges. These joint meetings are important to our community and Aimée’s leadership is an important element in their success.

Aimée is an outstanding supervisor, having mentored dozens of highly successful graduate and undergraduate thesis students in her laboratory. As Dean of Graduate Studies at Memorial, she is playing an important role in the success of hundreds of graduate students at that institution. In 2012, Aimée was honoured with the Memorial University Outstanding Contribution to Student Life Award. This award “recognizes faculty and staff members who go above and beyond the call of duty in helping their students achieve both inside and outside the classroom.”

Aimée has also played key roles at important funding agencies and professional and scientific organizations. From 2011 to 2014 she served as a member of the NSERC Life Sciencs (1502) Grants Adjudication committee. From 2009 to 2014 she held the seat on the CPA Board of Directors that is reserved for an experimental psychologist conducting basic research. Since 2016 she has been Chair of the CPA’s Brain and Cognitive Science Section.

In these and many other ways, Aimée has provided extraordinarily generous service to the CSBBCS community. That she has managed this while also achieving great success in her scientific career is truly impressive. She has played a vital role in all aspects of Canadian Cognitive Science. Aimée Surprenant is an ideal candidate for this recognition and provides a fine example to others in our community.