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• Victoria Bright receives Sharon A. Ling Award of Excellence for advancing alumni engagement and Faculty community

Victoria Bright receives Sharon A. Ling Award of Excellence for advancing alumni engagement and Faculty community

The Iron Ring is a pivotal moment, when engineering students take their oath to uphold the highest standards and ethics in engineering. With the highest registration numbers to date, the ceremony has expanded to two ceremonies hosting 2,000 students and guests — and that moment came together because Victoria Bright was working behind the scenes to make sure it did.

Bright, alumni engagement officer in Western Engineering, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Sharon A. Ling Award of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement by a Staff Member, which recognizes a continuing full-time staff member whose work shows mission focus, collegiality, sustained commitment, team play and leadership.

For Bright, the recognition lands as a shared honour.

“The Alumni Network is a life-long bond, and it’s rewarding to see students receive their Iron Ring, graduate, and flourish in their careers,” she said. “So, receiving this award is an honour that I share with our entire Alumni Relations and Development Team.”

Since joining Western Engineering in Fall 2020, Bright has built the Faculty’s alumni programming from a calendar of events into a connected community. Over five years she has supported thousands of alumni interactions and become, in the words of her nominator, a “trusted connector and relationship-builder” for students, faculty, alumni and donors alike.

“Victoria’s strength is the calm, steady way she supports both people and work,” said Kristina Stankevich, Bright’s nominator. “She is someone others trust because she communicates clearly, follows through and treats people with kindness.”

At the heart of Iron Ring and Homecoming

Two of Western Engineering’s largest annual events depend on Bright’s coordination.

For the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, she works with Camp 11 of the Corporation of the Seven Wardens, Undergraduate Services, students, catering, facilities and tech support to deliver back-to-back ceremonies — including just over 100 guest ringers, many of them returning alumni.

Outside the Faculty, Camp 11 has come to consider Bright an essential part of the ceremony’s success — a role she fills often after hours and always with the same energy, making her, for the industry partners who rely on Western Engineering each year, a vivid representative of the Faculty itself.

For Homecoming, she helped drive a 45 per cent jump in registrations between 2023 and 2024 and a sold-out Friday Dean’s Social with a waiting list. Eleven reunion classes were celebrated last year alone.

“For Homecoming every year, she organizes individual dinners for each reunion class, reserving restaurants months in advance, blocking hotel rooms across the city all while coordinating the open house tour guides, clubs and teams displays and volunteers,” wrote Lucy Belz, administrative assistant in the Dean’s Office. “Thanks in large part to Victoria’s efforts, Engineering has consistently had some of the biggest alumni turnouts compared to the other faculties.”

Always one more email

Bright’s day rarely ends when the building does. Colleagues describe her as the kind of staff member who comes in early to catch alumni in earlier time zones.

“Victoria has amazed me with her drive and dedication to engage with our alumni,” wrote Lucy Belz, administrative assistant in the Dean’s Office. “From coming in early or staying late so she can connect with people across different time zones, I don’t know when she sleeps. There’s always ‘one more email’ that she wants to send before she leaves for the day.”

That depth of commitment carries another benefit for the team — Bright is the office’s institutional memory, and she shares freely.

“As a new member of the team, I have personally benefited from Victoria’s wealth of knowledge and her ‘open-door’ approach to mentorship,” wrote Jack Bondy, development officer in the Faculty of Engineering. “Regardless of her own workload, she always makes time to provide guidance and answer any questions that arise.”

The personal touch

Beyond the spreadsheets and seating charts, Bright is known for a kind of detail that doesn’t appear in any job description. She developed silent hand signals with event MCs to manage real-time changes without breaking the flow of award ceremonies. She remembers alumni she met for five minutes two years ago. And by her colleagues’ accounts, she is also the team’s resident baker — bringing treats in when encouragement (and sugar) is most needed.

For her colleagues, that combination of attention, generosity and follow-through is the point.

“She sets an example of dedication and excellence within Engineering,” wrote Lauren Tribe, associate professor in the Faculty of Engineering, “and is very deserving of this award and recognition.”