Shannon Linning wins 2026 Cormack Teaching Award by making adaptability a teaching strength

For Shannon Linning, teaching is a two-way street that begins with listening. It’s about building a safe space where students feel free to ask questions, explore their curiosity, and believe in their own potential.

That commitment saw her honoured with this year’s Cormack Teaching Award from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, in recognition of the passion she brings to the classroom, her quality of pedagogy, and the value she contributes to her students’ education and the FASS teaching community.

“It’s a great honour to receive this award, but what means the most to me is knowing that my teaching has made a difference to many of my students,” she says. “To hear that I have succeeded in helping many students learn and pursue their educational and career goals makes me incredibly happy.”

Teaching had been part of Linning’s plans since elementary school, but it was during her undergraduate studies that she fell in love with research. She discovered that becoming a professor was the career path that would allow her to pursue two of her passions: research and teaching.

A proud Simon Fraser University alumnus, Linning joined SFU Criminology as an assistant professor in 2020. Her scholarly work focuses on place-based crime prevention, problem-oriented policing, and situational crime prevention. Her primary research interest is in how police can partner with property owners to suppress crime opportunities at and around their properties.

In the classroom, her teaching philosophy is grounded in student-centred learning and a growth mindset that views education as a two-way learning process.

“I learn from my students just as much as they learn from me,” she says. “This is one of the many things that makes teaching so rewarding for me.”

For Linning, one of the most important qualities of a great educator is adaptability. In her large classes, she introduces weekly written activities that let her gauge which concepts students grasp and where they struggle. She then uses this information to tailor the course to the group's specific needs. This ensures that every semester is slightly different, as she adapts the material to the students themselves.

Linning says her approach to teaching was shaped by the many mentors who supported her throughout her own education. She believes the best way to pay that support forward is by providing her own students with mentorship, skills, and encouragement. That commitment does not go unnoticed by her students.

“Shannon is a supervisor who genuinely cares about her students’ success. She is always there to provide support and thoughtful feedback, even dedicating her personal time to holding writing and presentation workshops to help students develop their skills,” says Perla Sulaj, Linning’s former student, now pursuing an MA under her supervision. ”I believe anyone can learn and excel under Shannon’s guidance as a supervisor.”

Congratulations to Shannon Linning on this well-deserved recognition. Her willingness to listen, adapt, and respond to the unique needs of her students is a defining part of what makes her teaching so impactful.