University of Waterloo appoints new Applied Health Sciences dean

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Lili Liu
The University of Waterloo has appointed Lili Liu as the next dean of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences.

Liu currently serves as the chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.

“Professor Liu’s experience as an administrator, combined with a track record of scholarship and strong experience in professional occupational therapy practice, will be an asset to the University of Waterloo,” said James Rush, vice-president academic and provost at Waterloo. “Her interest in interdisciplinary research and focus on helping people remain independent as they age will complement much of the work already underway at Waterloo.”

Liu is an occupational therapist and holds a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science and a PhD, all from McGill University. Her research has focused on user adoption of technologies for rehabilitation assessments and interventions, as well as ways technologies can help older adults and family caregivers.

She joined the University of Alberta in 1992, and recently completed her second five-year term as chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. During her tenure, the department went through two successful national accreditation reviews, and established Canada’s first satellite occupational therapy program. She has a long record of administrative service, including a one-year term as acting chair of the department, an 18-month term as associate chair, and six-year term as graduate program coordinator.

Liu has served as vice-president of the Association of Canadian Occupational Therapy Programs, interim director of the Alberta Centre on Aging, chair and a member of the Chairs’ Council Executive for University of Alberta, member of the Academic Women’s Association Executive, and the University of Alberta’s representative for the Institute for Continuing Care Education and Research Steering Committee.

Liu begins her five-year appointment on July 1, 2019. She takes over from Paul Stolee, a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems who has served as interim dean while the search process unfolded. Applied Health Sciences is home to more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students in three academic units – Kinesiology, the School of Public Health and Health Systems, and Recreation and Leisure Studies.