Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Faculty of Arts takes to the Convocation stage today

The third Convocation ceremony this week takes place at 10:00 a.m. today. 677 undergraduates, 138 Master's, and 24 PhDs will graduate this morning.  John North, Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, will bear the mace. Birgit Moscinski will sing the national anthem. Follow along with the livestream.

Heather Lynn Smith will become an Honorary Member of the University. Smith began her career at the University of Waterloo as a Records and Admissions Clerk in the Registrar’s Office in 1979 before moving to the Department of Psychology in 1985 where she would advance and serve as the academic advisor and program administrator of Psychology’s undergraduate program for 30 years. She graduated as a psychology major from the University of Waterloo in 1991. For her outstanding contributions she received a special Staff Recognition Award in 2004 and the Faculty of Arts Excellence in Service Award in 2014.

François Paré will be named Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Paré joined the University of Waterloo in 2003. He earned his doctorate from the State University of New York (Buffalo), and taught at the University of Guelph before he was appointed chair of the Department of French Studies. A specialist in the study of minority cultures and literatures, his ten books and more than 100 publications won prestigious awards: Governor General’s Award, Ontario’s Trillium Book Award, Gabrielle-Roy award. His widely-influential work has been recognized with his appointment as University Professor, as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and in receiving an honorary doctorate from Université Laval in 2016.

Ingrid Mary Mattson will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws and address Convocation. Mattson is a graduate of the University of Waterloo, where she earned a BA in philosophy and fine arts (1987). She completed her PhD in near eastern languages and civilizations at the University of Chicago, and is professor and Windsor Community Chair in Islamic Studies at Huron University College at Western University of Western Ontario, and Senior Fellow of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Amman, Jordan. She has published widely in the areas of Islamic theological ethics, Qur’an interpretation, and interfaith relations.

Amy Chun Zhou will deliver the valedictory address.

Joanne V. Wood of the Department of Psychology will be named University Professor.

At 2:30 p.m. the second Arts ceremony takes place and will include graduating students from St. Jerome's University, Conrad Grebel University College, Renison University College and the School of Social Work. 

507 undergraduates, 24 Master's and 1 PhD student will receive their degrees. Bearing the mace will be Wendy L. Fletcher, President and Vice-Chancellor, Renison University College. Birgit Moscinski will sing the national anthem.

Ginny Dybenko, executive director of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus and Special Advisor to the Dean of Arts will deliver a special Convocation address. Dybenko served as Executive Director of the University of Waterloo’s Stratford Campus following five years as the Dean of the Wilfrid Laurier School of Business & Economics, and after over 30 years of corporate experience where she held a number of senior executive roles in telecommunications and with a high tech startup. She has championed the promotion of technical programs for youth, and she is president and founder of the Waterloo chapter of the International Women’s Forum. A highly-valued board member for numerous public entities, she was recently named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.

Ashna Mankotia will deliver the valedictory address.

Sophia Chen will receive the Governor General's Silver Medal.

Ding Jia will receive the Alumni Gold Medal.

Gordon Pennycook will receive the Governor General's Gold Medal.

"Gordon’s record of winning awards and recognitions is extremely impressive," says his award citation. "In the Fall 2016 he was awarded the Alumni Gold Medal for Outstanding Academic Performance in a Doctoral Program. He is also a recent recipient of a SSHRC Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship where he was ranked number one out of 162 applicants nationwide. Gordon has already achieved a publication record that is worthy of a tenured faculty member at a top research-intensive university. He has published 33 peer-reviewed journal articles, 5 book chapters, several popular press articles and has an edited book on the way. His papers often contain multiple experiments and have significantly advanced theory. Gordon’s research in cognitive science has reached national and international academic and public audiences. His work is extremely insightful, shedding new light on how the human mind works, with practical applications for economic decision-making as well as deep philosophical implications for altruism and religious belief. His research focuses on issues of extreme importance for human psychology. Gordon is currently doing his postdoctoral work at Yale University." 

Matthew Brooker will receive the Reginald Haney Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Legal Studies Program.

Karisa Parkington will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies award at the Master's level.

In Kenya, a co-op student finds her calling

By Naz Kittani

With a work term spent in Kenya at an HIV/AIDS clinic and an orphanage, Arts student Rachel Zammit’s co-op experience was anything but ordinary.

Zammit worked in two different HIV/AIDS clinics, one dedicated to mothers and their babies, and another for the general public. She also took on roles in the community, including work at an early childhood development program teaching three to seven-year-olds math, science and personal hygiene. She also taught English.

“Through my co-op work term with Caring Partners Global and the Matangwe Community Health and Development Program, I was able to travel to Kenya, expand my comfort zone, and gain experience working in an international setting,” Zammit says.

It was an earlier trip to Africa that inspired her to pursue both her academic path and her work term in Kenya. “The summer after first year I was fortunate enough to travel to South Africa and Swaziland. While there I had the opportunity to visit an orphanage and learn about their funding, how they take care of the children and how the children come to live there” explains Zammit. “What I saw inspired me to pursue a minor in Peace and Conflict studies.”

The best part of Zammit’s co-op experience in Kenya? “Fridays, because I had the opportunity to work at a local orphanage,” says Zammit. “I took care of the children that were no older than one-year-old. Initially, there were seven babies, but by the end of my term, that number had grown to twelve. I welcomed this challenge with open arms, just as I welcomed all of the babies.”

Today is Zammit’s convocation ceremony. Congratulations to Rachel and all the Spring 2017 graduates!

Architecture prepares to celebrate 50 years

The School of Architecture will kick off its 50^th anniversary with an evening of celebrations on Thursday, June 15 in Cambridge.

There will be a reception at 6:00 p.m. in the Design at Riverside Gallery and an opportunity to view the exhibition "Waterloo Architecture in Venice."

At 7:00 p.m., the School's main lecture theatre will be officially dedicated in honour of Doctor Laurence Cummings, who originally read the motion to create the School of Architecture at the University's Senate and who co-founded the Cultural History Stream. Members of his family will be in attendance.

At 7:20 p.m., two Architecture graduates, Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliffe, will deliver the inaugural lecture in the 50th Anniversary Lecture Series. Shim Sutcliffe Architects is one of the most distinguished design firms in Canada.

At 9:00 p.m., there will be "drinks, food and music to celebrate fifty remarkable years in the life of a unique and creative institution."

The School of Architecture was established in 1967. Affiliated first with the Faculty of Engineering and then with the newly-established Faculty of Environmental Studies in 1969-70, the school returned to the Faculty of Engineering in 2004 and moved from the main campus to its current home in Cambridge.

Provost committee elections and other notes

Following the call for nominations to fill seats on the Vice-President, Academic & Provost Nominating Committee, the following individuals are elected by acclamation to serve on the committee:

• Diana Parry (Recreation & Leisure Studies) – Applied Health Sciences senator of professorial rank
• Shannon Dea (Philosophy) – Arts senator of professorial rank
• Mark Giesbrecht (Computer Science) – Mathematics senator of professorial rank
• Robert Lemieux (Dean of Science) – Science senator of professorial rank

For the other elected positions on the nominating committee, voting begins tomorrow, Thursday, June 15. Candidates for the remaining elected positions are as follows:

• Engineering senator of professorial rank: Claudio Canizares (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Paul Fieguth (Systems Design Engineering), George Freeman (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Pearl Sullivan (Dean of Engineering)
• Environment senator of professorial rank: Jean Andrey (Dean of Environment), Rob Gorbet (Knowledge Integration)
• Two faculty-at-large members: Dan Brown (Computer Science), Sally Gunz (Accounting and Finance), Shelley Hulan (English Language and Literature), Michele Mosca (Institute for Quantum Computing), Linda Nazar (Chemistry), David Welch (Political Science), Vershawn Ashanti Young (Drama and Speech Communication)
• Two regular staff members: Shahram Esmaeilsabzali (Information Systems & Technology), Susan Grant (Organizational and Human Development), Nancy Heide (Velocity), Michael Herz (Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering), Ryan Jacobs (Retail Services), Jennifer Kieffer (Institutional Analysis & Planning), Sarah Landy (Electrical and Computer Engineering), Cathy Newell Kelly (Centre for Extended Learning), Tina Roberts (Registrar’s Office), Tom Ruttan (Campus Wellness), Jackie Serviss (Office of Research), Gregory Smith (Information Systems & Technology), Jackie Stapleton (Library), Karen Trevors (Faculty of Science)

Regular faculty and regular non-union staff will receive an email on Thursday morning with a direct link to the electronic ballot and instructions on how to vote. Regular union staff will be mailed a paper ballot.

Please see the Secretariat website at Nominations & Elections for candidate statements and more information, or contact Emily Schroeder with any questions.

Hootsuite is on campus next week hosting an employer information session. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.