Professor Courtney Ward has won a Faculty of Arts and Science Outstanding Teaching Award for 2025–26. Professor Ward teaches the undergraduate courses ECO372, Data Analysis and Applied Econometrics in Practice, and ECO375, Applied Econometrics I, as well as the graduate level ECO 1060 Research Emphasis, with the Department of Economics.
“The department is very proud of our faculty and their contributions to the student experience,” said Professor Ettore Damiano, Chair of the Department of Economics. “Courtney’s innovative approaches are steeped in the academic values she holds dear and inspires in students.”
Students who have taken courses with Professor Ward were happy to see her recognized with this award.
“Professor Ward’s teaching style is very hands on,” said fourth year student Natalia George, “she emphasizes really understanding complex statistical concepts and using them in the real world. Her class involved a term long project where I truly saw her hard work and commitment to her students. She would hold long office hours, personally going through every question and understanding every student’s individual concern with their project.”
Renee Wang, a third-year student who has also taken ECO375 with Professor Ward agreed with George’s assessment.
“She is incredibly supportive and frequently engages with students, answering our questions with enthusiasm, clarity, and occasionally humour,” Wang said. “It is clear that she genuinely wants her students to succeed.”
Ward’s graduate students were equally happy to see her win.
“Professor Ward truly deserves this recognition,” said MA candidate Alexis Lu. “In her Research Paper course, her feedback was always encouraging, and it helped me become more confident in my research ideas.”
Ward, who has been teaching at the University of Toronto since 2020, is also an alumna of the PhD Program in Economics. She started her career with Dalhousie University in 2009.
“This award means a great deal to me because it recognizes the kind of teaching I believe in, creating environments where students can engage deeply and take intellectual risks,” said Professor Ward. “In a context where scale and technology are reshaping education, that work — building intellectual engagement, communication, and the metacognitive capacity to learn how to learn — feels especially important.”
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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