Monday, November 8, 2021

Presidential Installation event set for today

Vivek Goel will be officially installed as the University of Waterloo's seventh President and Vice-Chancellor at a special virtual event today at 4:00 p.m.

Hosting the hybrid event, the in-person portion of which will be held in Engineering 7, is the Faculty of Engineering's Dean Emeritus Adel Sedra.

Chancellor Dominic Barton will provide remarks via video, and the event will also feature words of greetings from leaders in government, business, and academia.

Cindy Forbes, chair of the University’s Board of Governors, and Karen Jack, University Secretary will preside over the formal installation ceremony.

President Goel will sign the official register and then deliver his formal installation address.

Register now to share in this important moment in the history of the University.

Remembering Professor Emerita Wendy Mitchinson

By Wendy Philpott. This article was originally featured on the Faculty of Arts news page.

Distinguished Professor Emerita Wendy Mitchinson of the Department of History died on October 23, 2021. A pioneering women’s historian, she joined the University of Waterloo with tenure in 1985 and held the Canada Research Chair in Gender and Medical History from 2006 to 2013.

“Wendy was a trailblazer and valued colleague,” says Professor Dan Gorman, Department of History chair. “Her legacy is apparent in the many graduate students with whom she worked, and who are now pursuing careers both outside and within the academy.”

Mitchinson co-authored Canadian Women: A History, the first comprehensive study of women in Canada that earned her a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award. In addition to her groundbreaking books about the history of the medical treatment of women and one about the history of obesity in Canada — Fighting Fat: Canada 1920-1980, published in 2018 — she was the author of many articles and edited, co-edited and contributed essays to numerous books. Receiving two Royal Society of Canada Jason A. Hannah medals recognizing advancements in the history of medicine, she retired from her career at Waterloo in 2013 as a Distinguished Professor Emerita. In 2018, the Department of History hosted a Symposium recognizing Mitchinson’s many accomplishments.

Three of Mitchinson's monographs: Fighting Fat, Body Failure, and Giving Birth in Canada.

“With characteristic elegance Wendy taught us all that world-class scholarship is at its best when balanced with loving partnership, enduring friendships, dedicated teaching, and generous sociability,” says Professor Julia Roberts from History. “She offered intellectual engagement and rigorous critique wrapped up in a bubble of good humour and understanding. I knew her as my MA supervisor, a dinner-party bon vivant, a friend, and a treasured colleague in UW History. I will miss her always.”  

“I was privileged to be able to work with Wendy,” says Professor Jane Nicholas (St Jerome’s). “When I heard the news of her passing, I reached for one of her many books on my shelf, so I could hear her voice in my head once more. She pioneered new fields of study in Canadian history and wrote with remarkable clarity and force. Some of her work also captured her joyful sense of humour. One of these was her essay No One Becomes a Feminist to Be Appreciated. But we did appreciate her —and we do — for that and much more. Among her many accomplishments are those hard to capture in neat lines, such as the feminist community of scholars she helped to build and sustain. I join that community in grieving a remarkable scholar, a generous mentor, and a wise colleague.”

As a teacher, Mitchinson was a dedicated, supportive, and much-loved supervisor and mentor to scores of graduate students who established distinguished careers both within and outside the academy. According to her students, she was their role model, their guide, their support, their advocate, and their very best critic. In 2013, she won the University’s Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision.

“As my master’s supervisor at UWaterloo in the late 1980s, Wendy was pivotal in my own turn towards women’s history as a transformative way to interpret the past,” says Professor Marlene Epp (Conrad Grebel). “In her supportive and forthright manner, she gave me, and many other female graduate students, the confidence to pursue a career in academia.”

Mitchinson was a great believer in work-life balance; she travelled widely, was an enthusiastic and prolific gardener, and found joy in her dogs and cats and in the natural world.

She leaves her partner of 50 years, Rex Lingwood, her family, friends and colleagues — many of whom often remarked that “she had a smile that could light up a room.”

Professor Andrew Hunt, a colleague in History recently wrote: “Modesty was one of Wendy’s traits… You’d never guess from spending time with her that you were in the presence of one of the greatest historians this country has ever produced.”

Professor John Sbardellati, also a department colleague, said: “She was a most welcoming and friendly colleague… In addition to being a fine scholar, Wendy did wonders for department congeniality. She will be missed.”

Memorial donations can be made to the Wendy Mitchinson Graduate Award in History at the University of Waterloo or to Sakura House Woodstock.

This article was adapted from the obituary for Wendy Mitchinson.

Veterans' Week: Diverse Experiences of War and Conflict

Beaded Poppy, photo and artwork by Robin Stadelbauer, Indigenous Relations Coordinator.

A message from the Office of Indigenous Relations.

This week is Veterans' Week and includes Indigenous Veterans' Day (November 8) and Remembrance Day (November 11).

We are thinking about diverse experiences of war and conflict – those who fought, who continue to fight, who are forced to flee, and those who are left behind.

In large numbers, Black, Indigenous and racialized people represented Canada during conflict while often facing systemic discrimination from the very country for whom they were sacrificing, fighting for and sometimes dying in the name of. Many of these fights continue today.

In honour of the diverse sacrifices and experiences of war and conflict, we have put together resources and a suggested reading list. It is by no means an exhaustive list, so please let us know what we are missing, and what we should be reading and reflecting on, particularly this week.

These days are not to celebrate war and conflict, but to reflect on the many diverse lives impacted by all forms of conflict, at home and abroad.

Check out an extensive list of general resources on the Office of Indigenous Relations website.

Monday's notes

The Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW) runs a series of workshops each year to help faculty through key aspects of their academic career, and the latest in the series takes place tomorrow. Definite-term Contracts is intended for faculty members currently on a definite-term contract, and attendees will learn about:

• how to interpret their current contract and what they're entitled to as a definite term faculty member,
• prepare to negotiate their next contract, and
• understand continuing appointments.

The event takes place on Microsoft Teams tomorrow from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Register now.

As part of the Water Institute's WaterTalks lecture series, Erin Mahoney, Commissioner of Environmental Services for York Region and Douglas Wright Engineer-in-Residence will present York Region’s One Water Story… recognizing the value of water in all its forms on Friday, November 12.

"York Region has embarked on a One Water Journey which is showing how new ways of thinking can bring community benefits, whether through better service quality, less disruptive infrastructure solutions, or greener and more welcoming surroundings, in addition to cost savings," says the lecture's background material. "York Region’s water and wastewater master planning reflects our One Water Approach which calls for solutions that are forward-thinking, and that aim to keep the Region welcoming and livable as it becomes more urbanized."

Erin Mahoney is Commissioner of Environmental Services for York Region, overseeing water and wastewater services, waste management, forestry, corporate energy and corporate asset management for 1.2 million residents and 28,000 businesses. Erin leads a team of about 500 staff in the Environmental Services department, which was inducted into the Leading Utilities of the World network in 2017. She is the 2021 Douglas Wright Engineer-in-Residence for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo. 

The event takes place on Friday, November 12 at 2:30 p.m. Register now.

And finally, on an internal note, today marks 10 years since founding Daily Bulletin editor Chris Redmond penned his last issue of the Daily Bulletin. Redmond retired in early 2012 after almost 39 years working in internal communications at the University. He was responsible for editing the University's Gazette newspaper from 1973 to 2004, and created the Daily Bulletin in 1993, writing and editing more than 4,500 issues of this online publication. His book Water Under the Bridge, a chronicle of Waterloo's first four decades, is still required reading for anyone interested in the history of this institution. We continue to wish Chris all the best in retirement.