Governance

Games Institute Org Chart

The Institute’s governance structure aligns with Policy 44 and is highlighted in the chart below.

Advisory Board

The GI’s Advisory Board acts as its Governing Body as defined in Policy 44, with the Vice-President, Research and International, as its Responsible Officers. The primary responsibility of the Advisory Board is to ensure the appropriate governance of the institute, the fulfilment of its goals and vision, to provide direction and advice on the development of strategic directions for the Institute, and the promotion of collaborative inter-and transdisciplinary research.

The Advisory Board’s membership includes the GI Executive and Associate Directors, three Waterloo Deans, GI researchers, and representatives of the GI’s industry and academic partners.

University of Waterloo Members

Chair
Charmaine Dean – Vice-President, Research and International - ex officio

Chair

Charmaine Dean

Charmaine Dean – Vice-President, Research and International - ex officio

Arts
Neil Randall – Executive Director, Games Institute - ex officio	Sheila Ager – Dean of Arts – represented by Douglas Peers, Interim Dean of Arts - ex officio
Kristina Llewellyn – Professor, History/Social Development Studies (Renison)	Shana MacDonald – Associate Professor, Communication Arts (Arts)
Lai-Tze Fan – Assistant Professor, Sociology & Legal Studies (Arts)

Arts

Neil Randall – Executive Director, Games Institute - ex officio

Sheila Ager - Profile

Sheila Ager – Dean of Arts – represented by Douglas Peers, Interim Dean of Arts - ex officio

Kristina Llewellyn – Professor, History/Social Development Studies (Renison)

Shana MacDonald – Associate Professor, Communication Arts (Arts)

Lai-Tze Fan – Assistant Professor, Sociology & Legal Studies (Arts)

Engineering
Mark Hancock – Associate Director, Games Institute - ex officio	Mary Wells – Dean of Engineering – represented by David Clausi, Associate Dean of Research, Engineering - ex officio
Oliver Schneider – Assistant Professor, Management Sciences (Engineering)	Karim Sallaudin Karim – Associate Vice-President, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship

Engineering

Mark Hancock – Associate Director, Games Institute - ex officio

Mary Wells – Dean of Engineering – represented by David Clausi,
Associate Dean of Research, Engineering - ex officio

Oliver Schneider

Oliver Schneider – Assistant Professor, Management Sciences (Engineering)

Karim Karim

Karim Sallaudin Karim – Associate Vice-President, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship

Health
Lili Liu – Dean of Health - ex officio	Michael Barnett Cowan – Associate Professor, Kinesiology

Health

Lili Liu

Lili Liu – Dean of Health - ex officio

Michael Barnett-Cowan

Michael Barnett Cowan – Associate Professor, Kinesiology

Statford School
Lennart Nacke – Associate Director, Graduate Studies, Stratford School	Cayley MacArthur – Associate Professor, Stratford School

Statford School

Lennart Nacke

Lennart Nacke – Associate Director, Graduate Studies, Stratford School

Cayley MacArthur headshot

Cayley MacArthur – Associate Professor, Stratford School

Math
Anita Layton – Associate Dean of Research, Mathematics (note: representing herself, not Math faculty)

External Academic Members
Kishonna Gray – Associate Professor, Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies, University of Kentucky	Aynur Kadir – Assistant Professor, Department of Asian Studies and Lifeways in Indigenous Asia, University of British Columbia
Bart Simon – Institute Director, Milieux Institute, Concordia University

External Industry Members
Evan Jones – Founder and Creative Director/Producer, Stitch Media, Toronto	Andrea Kerswill – Assistant Vice President Innovation, The Farm Mutual Reinsurance Plan

Anti-Racism, Decolonization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ADE) Committee

To ensure the continued awareness and expansion of understanding of issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion, the GI formed the Anti-Racism, Decolonization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ADE) Committee in 2020.

The mandate of the ADE Committee is to establish policies, practices, and education for GI members, associates, partners, and colleagues. The committee is composed of faculty and student members of the GI and is supported by GI Executive and Associate Directors and GI Administration.

Please see the ADE Committee page for more information and member bios.

Chair

Gerald Voorhees, Communication Arts

Members

Alessandra Luz, Computer Science
Arielle Grinberg, Management Sciences

Muhammad Umair Shah, Management Sciences
Oliver Schneider, Management Sciences
Ahmed Anwar, Management Sciences

Auxillary Members

Ben Feng, Statistics and Actuarial Science
Daniel Harley, Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business

Ex Officio

Agata Antkiewicz, Associate Director, Strategic Planning and Administration

Mark Hancock, Associate Director, Management Sciences
Neil Randall, Executive Director, Arts

Student Council

A goal of the GI has been to support and promote innovative, cross-disciplinary graduate training and mentorship for our HQP membership.

The Student Council is a governance structure that will assist us to respond to the needs and interests of the GI’s largest demographic more readily – our students.

Membership of the Students Council will be updated soon.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee consists of the Executive and Associate Directors, Associate Director, Strategic Planning and Administration (acting as Managing Director), the Chair of the Anti-Racism, Decolonization, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, and two representatives from the Student Council and two representatives from the Games Institute faculty.

The student and faculty members of the Executive Committee must represent different Waterloo Faculties. The Executive Committee will make recommendations to the Games Institute leadership pertaining to the planning of the annual budget, research directions and programs, outreach and expansion of membership, day-to-day operations, etc.

Faculy Representatives
Jennifer Whitson – Associate Professor, Sociology and Legal Studies	Jim Wallace – Associate Professor, School of Public Health Sciences

Student and Postdoctoral Representatives
Nicholas Tibert – Kinesiology and Health Sciences	Nicholas Hobin – English Language and Literature
Abhishesh Homagain – Kinesiology and Health Sciences

Ex-Officio Members
Gerald Voorhees – Associate Professor, Communication Arts	Agata Antkiewicz – Associate Director, Strategic Planning and Administration
Mark Hancock – Associate Director, Games Institute - ex officio	Neil Randall – Executive Director, Games Institute - ex officio

Administration

The GI Administration is overseen by the Associate Director, Strategic Planning and Administration (acting as Managing Director) and includes project management, research communications, operations, community curation and technical support staff.

The Executive Director works closely and continually with the Administration staff to guarantee a tight, effective implementation of all GI activities.

Membership

The GI’s active membership currently includes over 150 members (student and faculty) from all six faculties and 20 departments. The overall GI membership doubled since its status changed from an Arts-based institute to a university-level research institute in early 2017.

Please see our members list for contact information and detailed bios of each member.