Our Story
beginnings and purpose
Synapse Scholarship Association was formed in 2016 during the final semester of Ryan’s graduate studies. The idea had been slowly developing since his senior undergraduate years and was born out of the inspiration to support students in the same way that his professors had supported him.
Things really took off when Dr. Sherwood, one of Ryan and David’s undergraduate professors, asked him to work with other students to acknowledge the dedication of Padraig O’Cleirigh (another classics professor at the University of Guelph) to his students and to the discipline.
Dr. O’Cleirigh taught at the University of Guelph for 40 years. His passion for language, literature, history, and especially for his students led to the creation of the Padraig O’Cleirigh Scholarship, which is funded by his former students and generous public donations.
Synapse Scholarship Association was created to formalize this award and gained official charitable status from the government of Canada in 2016 with the help of its treasurer Elizabeth Walker.
Our association is in its early stages, but will grow its scholarship offerings to preserve the study of the humanities in Canada by supporting students who demonstrate academic achievement and community engagement in their discipline.
Watch this space
Synapse will simultaneously work to contribute to bridging the many disciplines of the humanities, the humanities with other fields of study, and by engaging with the public to connect people with common interests, and share inspiring stories.
In real terms, this means we will also work to set up our own annual knowledge exchange conference at which undergraduate and graduate students will be encouraged to present their research. We will further be working to build a scholarly journal, to which humanities students across Canada may contribute papers on topics applicable to both historical and current issues.
We look forward to sharing our journey with you during the exciting years of growth and opportunity ahead.
Founding Members
Ryan Johnson, President and Founder
Ryan completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Classical Languages and Philosophy at the University of Guelph in 2014 and went on to complete his Master of Arts in Classical Studies at the University of Waterloo in 2016. He is now enrolled in the University of Waterloo’s PhD in Sustainability Management.
His story in classics began early on when a high school teacher held a chair above his head, saying “Is there a form of a chair that is the perfect representation of ‘chair-ness’?” Ever since then, he has been fascinated by the ancient philosophers whose ideas and language have shaped the modern world and our perceptions of the individual, society, spirituality, and politics.
Throughout university, Ryan was an active leader in many student societies and was a student mentor teaching an after-school language program every week until becoming a Graduate Teaching Assistant during his graduate degree, during which time he continued to teach and mentor students.
After graduating, he became an editor and moved to the United Kingdom for two years before returning to Canada in 2019 where he continues to work and build Synapse Scholarship Association.
Dr. Andrew Sherwood, Vice President
Andrew Sherwood was born and raised in Alberta, received degrees from the Universities in Calgary, Victoria and Princeton, and has held university appointments at Victoria, Saint John, the University of British Columbia, Concordia, McGill and now Guelph where he has been since 2001.
Although he had planned a career in Mathematics or Physics, the draw of Greek and Roman cultures proved too strong. For some time he studied as widely as he could manage, doing literature, history, epigraphy, and archaeology, but his student participation in the Summer Program of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens turned his focus towards the physical culture and archaeology of the classical cultures.
Work on excavations in Israel, Greece, Jordan, Romania, Italy and, most recently, in Turkey have occupied most of his summers since 1979, and he has been introducing his own students to the ancient and modern cultures of the Mediterranean for many years now in an attempt to imbue the sense of importance of these cultures to the students, just as his own professors did for him many, many years ago.
Elizabeth Walker, Treasurer
Elizabeth Walker, CPA serves the Canadian business community and not-for-profit sector as a Chartered Professional Accountant.
As Treasurer for Synapse Scholarship Association, Elizabeth ensures compliance with government reporting and fiscal stewardship for the organization.
Currently in public practice, Elizabeth has a broad and deep knowledge of accounting, taxation and not-for-profit practices.
Ms. Walker is proud to serve on the Synapse Scholarship Association board and contribute to Canadian students enrolled in Canadian colleges and universities in the humanities programs.
David Drahos, Founding Member
David completed his Honours Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies at the University of Guelph in 2014. He simultaneously began working in 2011 during the summer breaks in Nova Scotia for his MP, Scott Brison. After graduating school in 2014 and organizing electoral success in 2015, David relocated to Ottawa where he continued to work for Minister Brison – the newly appointed President of the Treasury Board of Canada.
David departed Parliament Hill in 2018 to pursue a Master of Arts in Cultural Heritage Studies at the world leading Institute of Archaeology, University College London. His dissertation focused on the behaviour of government in managing heritage resources.
David is grateful for the practice in critical thinking and research granted from an education in the humanities, and considers it a privilege to have been mentored in public service and policy on Parliament Hill. Moving forward, David hopes to use all these lessons to help people create sustainable cultural and heritage policies.
