Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Spring Convocation honorands announced

A leading figure in the organization that won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize will be among the recipients of honorary doctorates at the University of Waterloo’s convocation next month. Close to 5,800 students will receive their degrees at 12 different ceremonies.

Setsuko Thurlow, an activist for peace and disarmament, will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address convocation during the Faculty of Arts ceremony at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 13. When the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) won the Nobel Peace Prize, Thurlow accepted the award with ICAN’s executive director. She is a spokesperson for survivors of the Hiroshima bombing and has spent a lifetime advocating for a ban on nuclear weapons.

The University will award the other nine honorary doctorates at the following ceremonies:

Applied Health Sciences — Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at 10 a.m.

Sandra E. Black will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree and address convocation. A distinguished clinician scientist, Black is known around the world for her contributions to brain health. Her work in the area of dementia and stroke is at the forefront of advances in diagnosis, clinical assessment and treatment.

Environment — Tuesday, June 12, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.

David R. Miller will receive an honorary Doctor of Environmental Studies degree and address convocation. He is a leading advocate for sustainable urban economies and green jobs. A former mayor of Toronto, Miller is currently North American regional director of the C40, a group of the world’s cities committed to addressing climate change. Miller was president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund.

Science — Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

Curtis J. Richardson will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree and address convocation. He holds the John O. Blackburn Distinguished Professorship at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University. He has led significant advances in the fundamentals of wetland science and advocated for the need for high-quality science in science-based policies and regulations in professional practice.

Science — Thursday, June 14, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.

Jo Handelsman will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address convocation. She is the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor and the director of the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery. Handelsman also served as associate director for science at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2014 to 2017.

Mathematics — Friday, June 15, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

David I. McKay will receive an honorary Doctor of Mathematics degree and address convocation. McKay, a Waterloo alumnus, is president and CEO of RBC, Canada’s largest bank. He helped transform the bank’s retail division and introduce new technology that has enabled RBC to adapt and evolve to rapidly changing consumer demands. He champions Canada’s innovation ecosystem and is leading RBC’s support for and partnerships with universities, startups and accelerators.

Anand Pillay will receive an honorary Doctor of Mathematics degree. His research is in model theory, a branch of mathematical logic, to which he has made profound and lasting contributions. He has been the William J. Hank Family Chair in mathematics at the University of Notre Dame since 2013.

Mathematics — Friday, June 15, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.

Robert Tibshirani, a Waterloo alumnus and among the top statisticians today, will receive an honorary Doctor of Mathematics and address convocation. His work has shaped the future directions of theoretical and applied statistics. He is a full professor at Stanford University, where he holds appointments in the Department of Biomedical Data Sciences and Statistics.

Engineering — Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 10:00 a.m.

Dean Kamen will receive an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree and address convocation. An inventor, entrepreneur and advocate for science and technology education, he founded FIRST, an organization dedicated to helping young people discover the wonder and rewards of science and technology. He also created the Segway Human Transporter.

Engineering — Saturday, June 16, 2018 at 2:30 p.m.

Patrick G. Awuah, Jr. will receive an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree and address convocation. He is the founder and president of Ashesi University College, a private, not-for-profit institution in Ghana. Awuah is contributing to a renaissance in Africa by educating a new generation of entrepreneurial leaders in Africa. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and the McNulty Prize. 

For more information, please visit the website for spring convocation 2018.

Special Convocation speakers and other honorees

Spring Convocation will feature an invited guest speaker and two Waterloo faculty members will receive special honours.

The Faculty of Arts has invited Upkar Arora to be a guest speaker on Wednesday, June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Arora is the co-founder and CEO of Illumina Partners, a boutique advisory firm which has specialized in strategy, operations, M&A and finance since 2002. In 2014, Arora also founded Illumina Social Impact Partners to advise and invest in enterprises committed to social impact and generating positive, scalable and sustainable change in our communities. Arora, who holds the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors, has extensive experience chairing and as a member of corporate boards, including the university’s Board of Governors. Arora is a FCPA, FCA and holds a master's degree from Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance. In 2015 he received the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award to recognize his significant contribution to the university.

Professor Bernard Glick will be named Distinguished Professor Emeritus on Thursday, June 14 at 2:30 p.m. A Waterloo alumnus and Biology professor who has been a faculty member at the University for 35 years, Glick has established an international reputation as a leading figure in the study of microbial‐plant interactions, and his work includes studies of bacteria that promote plant growth and stress resistance, as well as phytoremediation and microbial remediation. He has undertaken genomic and proteomic studies to understand the molecular activities that give rise to these actions. In addition to understanding the basic biology, his work has contributed to applications in the agriculture and energy industries.

Professor M. Tamer Özsu will be named University Professor on Friday, June 15 at 2:30 p.m. Professor Özsu  joined the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science in 2000, following 16 years at the University of Alberta. In addition to being a prominent faculty member, he has served as both Director of the School and Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty. Professor Özsu has focussed on big data problems — long before “Big Data” entered the lexicon. He is the co-author of a classical textbook on distributed and parallel data management and the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Database Systems.

Work term employer the key to student's career success

When Debra Kakaria (Walker) (Hons BA ’93, Environmental Studies) began her first of several co-op work terms with MacNaughton Hermsen Britton Clarkson Planning Limited (MHBC), she had no idea that she would one day become a partner of the firm. Nor could she have imagined that she would have the opportunity to work with so many other University of Waterloo alumni while providing future co-op students and graduates with the same valuable experience that has served her so well.

“I never imagined I would have the opportunities I have had since graduating and that I would make partner at a firm I highly respect. My position at the firm allows me to be more selective of the work I am involved with and to now lead and mentor graduates embarking on their careers, which is extremely fulfilling.”

Established in Kitchener in 1973 by Ian MacNaughton (BA ‘68/MA ’71, Urban and Regional Planning), today MHBC boasts more than 90 employees across six Ontario offices. This multi-disciplinary team of planners, urban designers and landscape architects specializes in land development, urban design, landscape architecture and resource management. Of the 17 partners that have shared ownership of MHBC, 13 are University of Waterloo grads, as are another 15 non-partner employees.

Debra credits her co-op experiences with the significant growth in ‘people skills’ she experienced during her university years. Along with improved prioritization, better time management and a greater attention to detail, Debra learned about professional conduct and customer importance while maintaining ethical integrity in the face of political pressure.

Co-op terms brought classroom skills to life for Debra through real-world applications, and she is happy to return this favour to the co-op students and graduates her firm hires. MHBC has taken on approximately 60 students over the past two decades, most from the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo. In 2017 alone, 10 co-op students were employed.

“An ideal co-op student would value and exhibit quality work and client service. They would be practical yet innovative. They would be genuine, trust-worthy and eager to learn, while making an effort to have fun and be part of the team socially.”

Strong emphasis is placed on succession planning at MHBC.

“This starts with hiring the right people and growing from within,” said Debra. “Hiring co-op students helps to foster that philosophy by exposing the firm to a variety of young professionals and potential employees. Through that process, we seek out those individuals that are incredibly motivated, dedicated and share values that match the firm’s philosophy.”

Co-op students assist with a wide variety of day-to-day activities at MHBC. They research planning policies and monitor council meetings and agendas. They manage photo inventories and help prepare submissions for Ontario Municipal Board hearings. Many use their advanced software knowledge to prepare graphical illustrations for reports and presentations.

Now that it is her turn to hire, Debra is appreciative of the University’s ongoing efforts to make the hiring process even faster and easier.

“The quality of service from program advisors and administrators has always been top-notch,” she said. “The upgrades to the co-op facility make the interview experience seamless and extremely efficient.  Also, the online system is continually improving to make the selection and ranking process more user-friendly.”

Wednesday's notes

Human Resources has reported that staff member Melissa Wieland died on May 19. Wieland started at the University in September 2016 as Food Services Assistant in Food Services. Her memorial service will be on Friday, May 25 at 11:00 a.m. at the Erb & Good Funeral Home in Waterloo. She is survived by her spouse Scott Derry. 

Employers on campus this week hosting employer information sessions include Blackberry, Genesys, Uber ATG Toronto – Tech Talk, PointClickCare, CIBC, A9.com, Asana. Visit the employer information sessions calendar for more details.