Alumni Council

1. Sustain an informed understanding of the strategic priorities of the University and provide alumni-focused insight into the strategy, objectives and actions based on their external perspective and experience at UWaterloo.
2. Provide feedback and advice to the President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Waterloo, and Vice-President, Advancement, on how to engage with and maximize the impact of alumni in the success of the University.
3. Actively prepare for and participate in all Alumni Council and sub-committee meetings.
4. Represent UWaterloo’s Alumni Council at events twice per year at minimum.
5. Encourage and actively promote
   • engagement with the University to the broader alumni community,
   • the activities and value of the UWaterloo Alumni Council and its connection to the University,
   • UWaterloo’s reputation nationally and internationally, and
   • participation in the University through alumni connections at every opportunity.
6. Reflect the values of Advancement by displaying leadership in supporting the University through gifts of time, talent and financial support.
7. Suggest potential general members for the Alumni Council and participate in recruitment and orientation for specific committees, as appropriate.

All new members serve a three-year term renewable to a maximum of another three-year term (exact length of renewable term will be decided through Alumni Council need and member interest).

1. Alumni Council typically will meet three-times per year; i.e. October, February and June.
2. The President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Waterloo, will be invited to attend all meetings to provide an update on the strategic direction and priorities of the University.
3. Alumni Council meetings will be focused on collaboration and the discussion of ideas rather than on status updates — this requires agendas, pre-work and readings to be circulated in advance of the meetings to get the best input from these valued volunteers.

Diana Vangelisti is a Retired Registered Professional Planner following a 30-year career in the field of consulting engineering where her work focused on sustainable communities and healthy environments. As a Vice President, she was responsible for business development, staffing and leadership of a regional office. Diana has served on the Board of Habitat for Humanity Waterloo Region and as a Grant Review Team member for the Ontario Trillium Foundation (Waterloo-Wellington-Dufferin region). After moving to Wasaga Beach over 12 years ago, Diana continued to be engaged in her community. She recently concluded her service as a Director on the Board of the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. She has also volunteered on the Boards of the YMCA of Simcoe Muskoka and the South Georgian Bay Community Health Centre where for each Board she served as Chair. Through these various volunteer opportunities, Diana has also developed an expertise in non-profit governance practices. She believes that volunteers are the foundation of strong communities. Diana has stayed connected to UW and is active in the ES Ten Thousand Coffees Program that connects Alumni to students and recent grads. 

Lee Anne graduated with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Honours Urban & Regional Planning) from the University of Waterloo in 1981. Throughout her 33 year career Lee Anne held various non-traditional senior management positions in development planning, municipal administration, building and by-law enforcement in both upper and lower tier municipalities in southwestern Ontario until her retirement as the first female Executive Director of Building/Chief Building Official at the City of Windsor in September 2014. She continues to give back to her profession and community as an Independent Municipal Management Professional.

Her strong leadership skills and professional excellence have been recognized and awarded by numerous organizations. In 1999 she was received the ATHENA International Leadership Award by the Windsor –Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce for her professional excellence, service to the community, and assistance to women in realizing their full leadership potential.  Lee Anne is the 2006 Recipient of the OPPI Members Service Award presented by OPPI for her outstanding leadership contributions to the Institute and the planning profession. A strong advocate for mentorship, Lee Anne founded the successful City of Windsor Employee Mentoring Program which received the 2010 E.A. Danby Award by AMCTO as an effective succession planning tool for municipalities. 

Lee Anne’s commitment and passion for the University of Waterloo remains unwavering. She is a SURP '81 Class Champion preparing for the virtual 40th SURP Class Reunion on Alumni Weekend, June 5 2021 and has launched  the SURP Class of '81 Entrance Scholarship Fund campaign with the goal to raise $10,000 before the Reunion in June. She was appointed as the Waterloo School of Planning 2017-2018 Planner-in-Residence to share her planning experience and knowledge as the Plan 403  “Professional Practice, Public and Private Administration” Winter Semester Lecturer.

Meaghan Kimball (nee Stoll) graduated from the University Waterloo in 2006 with a Bachelor of Mathematics with a major in statistics and minor in economics.  Meaghan's undergraduate experience at UWaterloo was diverse and stimulating.  She was a Rene Descartes National Scholarship recipient, Academic All-Canadian as captain of the varsity curling team and international exchange student during her third year studies at Heriot Watt University in Scotland.

Meaghan currently works in foreign currency risk management in the Treasury department of at a large technology company in Silicon Valley.  Previously, Meaghan worked in capital markets in Toronto and New York as a financial derivatives specialist.  Meaghan also holds a Masters of Science from Stanford University and is a CFA charterholder. 

The education and experiences Meaghan received as a student at UWaterloo were highly rewarding and she is excited to give back as a member of the Alumni Council.

Hilary Foster-Wilson (nee Corneau) graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Environment and Business, minor in Geography, and Diploma in Environmental Assessment. During her time at Waterloo, she was an orientation leader, local sorority president, active community volunteer, and resident at Renison College. Looking back, Hilary is beyond grateful for her co-op experience, pragmatic learning, and the friendships that she gained at university.  

She also holds a Master’s of Science degree in Sustainability from the University of Leeds. She is a LEED GA and is Quality Management Systems & Management Systems Auditing certified. 

Hilary is a dedicated volunteer for multiple communities, has travelled to all 7 continents, loves to cook, adores her friends and family, and can be found running long distances.

Eric graduated from HKLS with a BSc in Kinesiology in 1979. Despite being a very new program, it gave him the basis for a long career in several areas of the field.

Eric spent his first 8 years working in the ergonomics/human engineering field with the Canadian Forces and then as a consultant in several automotive manufacturing environments. That was followed by a rewarding 27 year career as a sales specialist and account manager in the respiratory medical equipment business based out of Vancouver and servicing Western Canada.

Eric retired from Cardinal Health Canada in 2015 and spends much of his time now staying active and volunteering as a patient advocate/ambassador for several medical organizations and support groups including Trillium Gift of Life (ONT), Lung Health Foundation, and UHN Lung Transplant Program. The genesis of this was his receiving a successful double lung transplant in December 2018 and a subsequent desire to share his knowledge and experiences from that journey and his related medical career with patients, caregivers and healthcare workers.

Eric is an avid golfer and was notably an Event Host in the Vancouver Athletes Village at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Since returning to Ontario in 2014 Eric has regularly attended Reunion, Black & Gold, AHS and Alumni events on campus and in the Toronto area. Eric lives in Toronto.

Ron earned his BASc (Chemical Engineering) degree from the University of Waterloo in 1982. The  co-op Engineering program was the foundation for many technical and leadership skills used throughout his career.

Ron now provides consulting and coaching services to several firms after many years in Executive leadership roles with pharmaceutical and consumer goods companies. He is associated with various consulting and advisory organizations designed to connect executive teams with experienced individuals who can help mentor a company’s growth to the next level.

Dow Chemical provided several years of petrochemical experience after graduation before Ron moved into the pharmaceutical world through Dow’s wholly owned subsidiary. From there he worked in the US for a few years before accepting an Executive role in a relatively small Canadian pharma company at the time – Apotex. Over the next 15 years, as EVP - Operations, he helped the company grow tenfold to become a leading global player in generic pharmaceuticals. Several innovations in manufacturing technology were built into the world class facilities constructed in the early 2000’s that provided Apotex with an advantage over other generic providers. Ron has more recently held Executive positions in Sanofi Pasteur (a leader in vaccine development and manufacturing) and with KIK Corporation (a leading manufacturer and supplier of private label consumer goods in North America).

This new role on the Alumni Committee gives Ron an opportunity to come full circle and join a team of experienced individuals trying to help the University of Waterloo meet the challenges that today’s world offers.

Matt has over two decades of experience in software development and technology businesses. He started as a software engineer making computer games and transitioned early in his career to roles focused on people and program management.

In July 2017 he joined Microsoft and now leads a group of Technical Program Managers in Commercial Software Engineering, collaborating with our largest customers on their toughest challenges to transform their businesses using cloud native solutions.

Matt leads the Disability Employee Resource group for Microsoft Canada, helping to support and advocate for our employees, plus their families and friends.

Michelle Hung is an author and founder of The Sassy Investor.  An advocate for financial literacy, she is on a mission to spread the word on the on the importance of financial independence and how to achieve it. Realizing the lack of resources out there for those that would like to learn how to invest, she built this business to make it easy for people to understand finance and most importantly, how to execute.

She spent seven years working in investment banking and venture capital in Toronto.  Through her experience in advising companies in capital raising, mergers & acquisitions, and initial public offerings, she has a rich understanding of capital markets and how it all ties in with the average investor. 

She graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2008 with a Bachelor's of Mathematics, with a specialization in Finance, and obtained the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2014.

In her spare time, you will find her at a hot yoga class or playing soccer. She hates cilantro, loves raisins, and enjoys pineapple on her pizza. 

Anne-Marie graduated in 1995 from the Faculty of Environment with a Planning degree from the School of Planning.

As the Faculty of Environment’s first official class champion, Anne-Marie (BES ’95) has made a name for herself as an entrepreneur, avid volunteer, and loyal Waterloo ambassador. She has organized her class’ 10 and 20-year class reunions, led a successful peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to raise nearly $25,000 for the Planning Class of 1995 entrance scholarship, and she holds the role of Leadership Advisor for the Waterloo Toronto Alumni Chapter, the university’s largest chapter, after previously holding the role of c0-leader of the Chapter.

Anne-Marie traces her love of the School of Planning to her very first days as an undergrad — crediting her experiences, both in and out of the classroom, for helping to shape the person she is today.

A dedicated volunteer she is a Welcome Team member at Toronto Pearson Airport and a mentor for Futurpreneur Canada. She has volunteered for the Girl Guides of Canada, the Toronto Pan/Parapan American Games, and Ovarian Cancer Canada. She mentors Waterloo students through ENVConnect and has spoken at faculty events. If that were not enough, she bravely participates in an annual dip in Lake Ontario on January 1^st to raise funds for Boost Child and Youth Advocacy Centre.

In 2021 Anne-Marie was awarded the Friend of the Faculty Impact Award by the Faculty of Environment.

Professionally, Anne-Marie runs her own digital media company, Long Legs Media, providing marketing and content creation expertise specializing in digital, social media, and ongoing marketing strategy and execution. Her work ranges from large corporate clients to supporting similar entrepreneurial businesses like her own.

Outside of work and volunteering, Anne-Marie is on a personal quest to step foot in every province and territory. Only Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut remain on her list.

Ayan is a career changer, empathetic leader, and passionate about maximizing his impact on the world.

Although Ayan started as a consulting actuary, his desire to have a greater impact motivated him to change careers and stay true to his vision. He landed in software sales, where he led the Go-to-Market strategy team, and developed playbooks to grow revenue from $200m to $1bn+.

It was a huge change: from mathematical modeling to developing relationships with the C-suite and deliver their technology goals. Analytical rigor, data and storytelling has contributed to his success, and makes him a well-rounded leader and mentor. Currently, he is following his heart to the next stage of his personal growth, and becoming a startup founder.

White at UWaterloo, he hosted the first Asian Urban music show on Waterloo Radio, was a Maths Orientation Leader, and went to Australia on exchange. He graduated with distinction, with a B.Mathematics in Actuarial Science & Finance.

Along the way, he has lived in Sydney, Austin, New York, Toronto and San Francisco. He is very excited to bring a diverse perspective - multiple careers, cultures and cities - to help position Waterloo as a power player on the global arena. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, and enjoys breadmaking, basketball and exploring the west coast.  

Michael La Fleur graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2003 with a Honours Bachelor of Economics (co-op) with a finance specialization. As a second generation UW alumni, Michael grew up very familiar with the university including its great reputation for its co-op program.  During his time at UW,  he was active in the community and proud resident of Village 2. The connections and friendships made at UW have been lifelong.

Post completing his MBA, Michael has worked in Toronto, London and New York is currently employed at TD Securities as a Managing Director, Head of U.S. Debt Private Placements in which he and his team cover global issuers and investors for multi-million to billion dollar debt transactions.

He also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management.  Michael currently resides on the Upper West Side of New York City with his wife and young son.  Michael is new to the Alumni Council and is excited to give back to the University of Waterloo alumni community.

Nike Dattani completed his undergraduate studies at University of Waterloo, followed by a PhD at Oxford University (UK) and scientific research work at Kyoto University (Japan), Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research (Germany), Harvard University / Smithsonian Institution (USA), and Jilin University (China), in addition to plenty of experience in Canada as a Banting Fellow at McMaster University and a scientific researcher at the National Research Council, University of Western Ontario, HPQC Labs, and University of Waterloo. He has also taught classes at Concordia University (Canada), Universidad de las Ciencias Informáticas (Cuba), and University of Helsinki (Finland), as well as some of the previously listed institutions.

As a UW undergrad student, Dattani was a member of several labs in the departments of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Applied Math, Philosophy, Systems Design Engineering and the Institute for Quantum Computing. Although he is now more known for his work in high-performance and quantum computing, his first research project at UW was in experimental biophysics in which he built an experiment (automated using LabVIEW) to detect the crystallization of unsaturated fatty acids subjected to physical forces, and later he worked at IQC in experimental quantum optics on the three-slit experiment (a generalization of Thomas Young's double-slit experiment, which was used in the first experimental test of Born's rule). Also as an undergrad, Dattani was a lead trumpet player in the UW Stage Band for multiple terms, and a teaching assistant for PHYS 111, 112, 115, 125, 121, 122, CHEM 120L and CHEM 123L.

Dattani has volunteered throughout his life. At UW he helped with orientation of new students in both the Science and Math faculties, as well as helping new students move their refrigerators into UW residences. He was also a volunteer for Student Life 101, Science Society, Ask Me booths, and various clubs. He was on the executive committee of the UW English Society in which he helped organize a trip for students to see a Shakespearean play in Stratford. His volunteering continued at Oxford where he gave over 100 tours of his college, served as President of the Oxford Canadian Society and of the Oxford Linguistics Society, a committee member for the Hertford College MCR and the Clarendon Council, and an ambassador for his academic departments. During this time he played trumpet in his college orchestra, sang in various choirs, competed with the Oxford powerlifting team and Oxford ballroom and Latin dancing team, taught for three different departments, and participated in countless other activities. After Oxford, Dattani started many not-for-profit organizations including the Association of Not-for-Profit Research Institutes, the Association of Political Candidates, and the Matter Modeling Stack Exchange.

Alex is a Venture Investor and Strategy Advisor with a focus on B2B SaaS, Big Data, and Climate.  With over 20 years experience as an entrepreneur and head of M&A, Alex advises CEOs and private equity investors on generating growth and successful outcomes for their businesses.  Alex has a B.A.Sc. Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from INSEAD, and speaks four languages.  When he’s not strategizing growth opportunities or sitting in on web calls, Alex will most likely be found cycling, hiking, or spending time with his increasingly far-flung family.