A Coquitlam resident was named this week as a 2011 YWCA Vancouver Woman of Distinction.
Malgorzata Dubiel was among 12 women to accept the award Tuesday during a gala event at the Westin Bayshore hotel in Vancouver.
A senior math lecturer at Simon Fraser University, Dubiel won the accolade for her 40 years of community outreach to debunk numbers for students of all ages. In particular, she has encouraged many young female students to overcome "math anxiety."
A native of Poland, Dubiel uses popular characters such as Homer Simpson and props to illustrate her points. In the past, Dubiel has been recognized with a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, the SFU Excellence in Teaching Award and the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences Education Prize.
Surrey resident Morna Edmundson, the artistic director of the Elektra Women's Choir who also serves as a festival board director with Coquitlam's Coastal Sound Music Academy Society, was also among the YWCA recipients.
The Women of Distinction awards started in 1984 and, since then, YWCA Vancouver has honoured more than 200 women and their workplaces.
