Share your news! We invite all Waterloo Arts alumni to submit a class note with any personal or professional updates (in about 75 words), which we will be happy to include in a future issue of Arts & Letters.
1960s
Christine Dominico (BA ’69, English) published a novel: Pushback: Claim Your Voice. Readers have said it is a book that badly needed to be written as it addresses the struggles girls face as they confront the narrow expectations and definitions of what it means to be female.
1980s
Ian Pomroy (BA ’87, Economics) recently published a short story in flolit, a literary magazine dedicated to publishing short stories, creative nonfiction, and poetry by writers residing in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. flo. aims to highlight the intersections and divergences of experiences of people in one geographic region. After a long career in public service, Ian has been enjoying retirement since 2019 and is excited to share stories and career advice with Arts students.
2000s
Muneeba Adil Omar (BA ’05, Political Science) was appointed Director of Operations, Parliamentary Affairs at the Privy Council Office on August 1, 2024. She resides in Ottawa with her husband John Harder (BA ’06, Political Science) and their two children.
Kevin Royal (BA ’07) began a new position early this year as Customer Vice President (Grocery Retail) at Kraft Heinz in Toronto, where he spent the last four years as Head of Away From Home (Foodservice). Leading through the adversity of the COVID19 pandemic and the industry’s resilient rebound, has been a career highlight for Kevin. He looks forward to this new leadership opportunity to collaborate with Kraft Heinz’s strategic partners and customers.
Rahim Thawer (BA ’08, Psychology) was recently selected as the 2024 recipient of the Ontario Association of Social Workers (OASW) Local Distinguished Social Worker Award in Toronto (& Area). This award is given annually at the local level to recognize social workers and OASW members whose leadership, advocacy, or innovation have benefited their colleagues and communities.
Vivek Ramakrishnan (BA ’08, MA ’11, PhD ’17, French) is currently working as the French Teacher for grades 5-8 at Walden International School, an IB school in Oakville, Ontario. He enjoys his job and likes teaching
Doug Spooner (BA '08, MA '09, Political Science) recently became Acting Commissioner, Transportation at the Region of Waterloo. Doug’s role sees him working alongside a fantastic team to deliver a variety of Regional services including transit, multi-modal travel, and roads. Doug joined the Region of Waterloo (Grand River Transit) over a year ago, following stops at Metrolinx, the Invictus 2017 Games, the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, and his own consulting firm. Doug’s experience spans a variety of transportation fields including system/space design and operation, network design, procurement, policy development and stakeholder integration.
2010s
Samantha King (BA ’11, English) was recently made Chair of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, taking on a mandate to help achieve the strategic plan and continue the great work of this award-winning national institution. She also recently changed roles, joining Equitable as the Head of Data Practices and Insights and leading a team that is modernizing the data culture and delivering actionable reporting and insights.
2020s
Hannah Athena Uitvlugt-Rafuse (BA ’23, German) landed a job in her dream industry, private education, less than one year out of graduation. She is currently working as a first and second language private school teacher for English at Oxford Learning Kitchener. When she’s not teaching, she’s working as a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Young Ambassador, as well as working on her travel and teaching blog where she is known as Frau Hannah.