Over his 42 year career at Queen’s University, Mr. Alan Travers contributed tremendously to the Faculty of Education.

In recognition of his dedication and contribution to international education, the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE) has voted to present Mr. Travers with the AAIE Hall of Fame award at its 47th annual conference in San Francisco on February 15, 2013.

When Mr. Travers began his career at the Faculty of Education, teacher candidates were largely in need of job search support. He took the initiative to start the Placement Office (now Education Career Services) in 1979 to address this growing need.

Over the years, Education Career Services came to be nationally and internationally renowned, assisting thousands and thousands of teacher candidates in their career searches.

Mr. Travers’ dedication and initiative did not stop there. In 1984, a young teaching couple in the BEd program desired to teach overseas.  Mr. Travers took it upon himself to contact a few international schools for the couple, who were eventually hired by Colegio Nueva Grenada. The following year, two schools in Colombia recruited Queen’s teachers on campus. A few years of on-campus recruitment later, the Teachers’ Overseas Recruiting Fair (TORF) was established in 1987.

In its beginning years, TORF included about a dozen schools. Today, with the support and dedication of Education Career Services staff and a large team of volunteers, the Fair includes over 75 international schools and brings together over 350 candidates annually to have face-to-face interviews with administrators or their representatives, making it the original and largest recruiting fair in Canada.  

TORF is taking place next week, from January 25-27, 2013.  It is the 25th anniversary of the Fair. See the story on TORF 2012: More than 160 Jobs and Counting

Mr. Travers retired from his position as Coordinator of Education Career Services last summer.  He continues to work at the Faculty as a career consultant and has contributed significantly to the upcoming TORF. 

Congratulations to Mr. Travers on being awarded the AAIE Hall of Fame Award and thanks 
for continuing to support teacher candidates through our Education Career Services Office!