As we welcome a new year, I want to extend my heartfelt wishes for health, happiness, and fulfillment. This past year has been especially meaningful as we celebrated the Faculty of Arts’ 65th anniversary: a milestone that honours our legacy of creativity, critical thinking and impact while looking ahead to an exciting future. The turning of the calendar invites us to reflect on what we’ve built together — and to imagine what’s next.
In 2025, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni inspired me with accomplishments that resonate on a national and global stage. Through research, teaching, and community engagement, Arts is making a tangible difference across Waterloo’s five areas of focus in our Global Futures framework: societal, economic, technological, health and climate.
Student achievements on the world stage
Global Business and Digital Arts students competed in the 2025 Student Service Design Challenge, a worldwide competition drawing more than 160 student teams from nearly 100 schools and universities. Waterloo’s Team Flare earned first place in the IBM Challenge and an honourable mention overall, a remarkable performance in a field that spans continents and disciplines.
Our School of Accounting and Finance team excelled in the Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC), the world’s largest VC simulation with over 120 university and graduate school teams participating globally. Waterloo placed second at the Global Finals — the highest ranking ever achieved by an international team in the competition’s 27-year history — building on six consecutive Canadian championships.
Faculty research: Nationally recognized excellence
Arts researchers earned prestigious national support, reflecting our commitment to addressing pressing social and technological challenges. Dr. Kate Ratliff (Psychology) was named a Tier 1 SSHRC Canada Research Chair in Intergroup Attitudes, advancing research on how policies shape attitudes between social groups.
And two Arts projects received Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) awards, which help top researchers build the tools and facilities needed for world-class research: Dr. Clara Colombatto (Psychology) whose work examines signals of attention and confidence to improve human-AI collaboration; and Dr. Shana MacDonald (Communication Arts), whose research tackles technology-facilitated gender-based violence with practical tools for safer digital spaces.
Alumni impact: Our 2025 award winners
We proudly celebrated three Faculty of Arts Alumni Award recipients:
Madam Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go (BA ’86) — Alumni Achievement Award for Professional Achievement, the first Chinese Canadian appointed to the Federal Court and a tireless advocate for racial justice.
Susan McKenzie (BA ’96, MA ’98) — Alumni Achievement Award for Community Builder, founder of the Transplant Ambassador Program supporting hundreds of kidney patients and donors.
Eyitemi Popo (MDEI ’16) — Rising Star Alumni Award, a Forbes-recognized changemaker empowering women globally through Girls Trip Tours and the Girls MAP Foundation.
Looking Ahead: Building a Bold Future Together
In the year ahead, we aim to establish creative and critical approaches to generative AI while maintaining high standards in research, teaching, curriculum development, and student experience. To that end, we’ve launched a task force to develop initiatives that will help our faculty, staff, and students respond to the challenges and opportunities of rapidly evolving AI in education and all sectors.
To give an example: in partnership with WatSPEED, the university's professional education arm, we’re offering the Data Analytics and Behavioural Insights (DABI) certificate at no cost to Arts undergraduate co-op students. The DABI certificate trains students to interpret findings from different data analytics methods through social sciences/humanities perspectives. This additional certification will strengthen Arts graduates’ career-readiness in labour markets that are increasingly disrupted by AI technologies.
As we move into 2026, we’re preparing for one of the most transformative changes in our history: the Faculty of Arts will transition from 15 departments and two schools to six schools. This new structure, taking effect July 1, 2026, is designed to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, spark more innovation, and ensure program resilience for decades to come.
Thank you for being part of this journey. Your connection to Arts strengthens everything we do. On behalf of the Faculty of Arts, I wish you a year of inspiration, opportunity, and joy—and, as always, I encourage you to connect with me and visit campus in person.
Warm regards,
Alexie Tcheuyap, FRSC
Dean, Faculty of Arts