Celebrating Exceptional Alumni: 2018 Award Winners

Congratulations to the newest recipients of Crescent’s Alumni Recognition Awards. The awards honour Men of Character who merit special acknowledgement for their exceptional achievements and service to the community.
“Crescent School alumni are excelling in many fields and taking part in exciting endeavours all around the world. We're proud to recognize these exemplary individuals; not only to acknowledge their accomplishments, but more importantly, to help inspire our entire community,” says Philip Lloyd ’09, who serves on the Alumni Recognition Awards Committee.

The award recipients are:

Mike McDerment ’94 received the Alumni Excellence Award, which honours alumni who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers, personal endeavours and community service. As the co-founder and CEO of FreshBooks, McDerment has built the company into the world’s number one cloud-based accounting software company for self-employed professionals. Toronto Life magazine listed him as one of the 20 most brilliant tech innovators in October 2017, and the Toronto Region Board of Trade named him its 2017 Business Leader of the Year. Despite his hectic schedule, McDerment is keenly involved in Crescent’s mentoring program. He was also the featured speaker at a recent Alumni Breakfast event in Toronto.

Oleg Baranov ’11 received the Young Alumni Excellence Award, which is for alumni who have distinguished themselves within 15 years of graduating from Crescent. Baranov is honoured for his dedication and hard work in co-founding and building CleanSlate UV, a product of the Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre. CleanSlate UV is a tool that uses ultraviolet (UV-C) light to sanitize smart phones, tablets and other handheld devices used by healthcare staff and patients. It placed second in a 43North business competition and received the 2016 One To Watch Award from Queen’s University. In addition to this work, Baranov continues to be an enthusiastic supporter of the Crescent School robotics team.

Rob Watt ’85, P’14 received the Alumni Community Leadership Award, which honours alumni who have demonstrated tremendous volunteer service to Crescent School. Over the past decade, Watt has made Crescent one of his main priorities in an already very busy life. He began volunteering on the Alumni Executive in 2010, where he served as Chair of the Fundraising Committee and as a member of the Alumni Internship Program committee. He assumed the role of Chair of the Alumni Executive in 2013, serving as an exceptional leader for three years. As his Class Chair, Watt successfully spearheaded an $85,000 fundraising campaign supporting student financial aid, a Crescent cause that he is passionate about. Watt now chairs the Facilities Committee on the Crescent School Board of Governors.
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