Celebrating staff excellence in the College of Arts and Science

By Chris Putnam

The College of Arts and Science is recognizing the extraordinary contributions of two staff members who support students, faculty and employees.

Dr. Valerie MacKenzie (PhD) and Samantha Smith have been selected as the 2026 recipients of the Dean’s Distinguished Staff Award. The annual award recognizes two staff members who have made significant contributions to the workplace and who uphold the college values of integrity, diversity, creativity, innovation, knowledge and personal growth.

MacKenzie is the analytical and physical chemistry laboratory manager in the Department of Chemistry. Smith is the assistant manager, finance for the college’s Administrative Support Group.

Five staff members were nominated for the award this year. In addition to MacKenzie and Smith, Angelou Biscocho, Danni Kirilenko and James Dobson received nominations.

The awards were presented on April 30 by Dr. Brooke Milne (PhD), dean of the College of Arts and Science, at the annual Arts and Science Celebration.

Valerie MacKenzie

Analytical and Physical Chemistry Laboratory Manager
Department of Chemistry

In her role, Dr. Valerie MacKenzie (PhD) oversees the lab component of five Department of Chemistry courses. Each year, she supervises seven teaching assistants (TAs) and guides hundreds of students while designing and implementing laboratory exercises.

Despite a vast and complex set of responsibilities, MacKenzie ensures that labs runs smoothly and that both students and TAs feel supported. Students describe her as approachable, kind and accommodating. TAs praise her leadership; under MacKenzie, they receive respectful guidance while being empowered to find their footing as teachers.

An innovative thinker with bottomless curiosity, MacKenzie is always seeking new knowledge and using it to improve and update the USask chemistry programs. She regularly designs and implements new laboratory exercises, works to modernize the tools and instruments used by students, and learns new methods in order to create laboratories for selected topics courses.

Highly respected within her department, MacKenzie has served a central role on recent efforts to renew the undergraduate chemistry program. Her creative proposals have helped set the direction for future upper-year chemistry courses at USask.

Samantha Smith

Assistant Manager, Finance
Administrative Support Group

Samantha Smith brings expertise and integrity to her leadership role in the Administrative Support Group (ASG): the group that provides admin support to academic units and programs throughout the College of Arts and Science.

Smith supervises 14 staff members on the ASG finance and student awards team, overseeing areas such as payroll entry, award adjudication, graduate student funding and operating fund reports. Since beginning her leadership position in 2024, she has spearheaded improvements to many college financial processes, creating greater efficiency and consistency.

Smith responds to the needs of departments with tact and care, and has earned the respect and trust of faculty and staff across the college. Employees on her team find her an empathetic and supportive leader who genuinely cares about those she works with. Smith has sought out training to build her leadership skills and is supportive of her team’s professional development.

Reliable, effective and always willing to assist, Smith is continually finding creative ways to increase collaboration and improve service within the College of Arts and Science.

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