Dear Faculty of Mathematics colleagues,
It is hard to believe it is March already!
This shortest month was full of events and news, both positive and negative. I know that so many of you have joined me in offering condolences and support to the members of our community who were affected by the horrific earthquake in Türkiye and Syria, as well as solemnly commemorating the one-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine.
This has been a whirlwind month for many of us, of course, with the important tasks of teaching and research. I’ve had the great privilege to travel to Southeast Asia this February to help launch the Flood Impacts, Carbon Pricing, and Ecosystem Sustainability (FINCAPES) project in Jakarta, with the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, the Faculty of Environment, Global Affairs Canada, and partners in Indonesia. This is an exciting successor to the Risk Management, Economic Sustainability, and Actuarial Science Development in Indonesia (READI) project which has successfully helped develop and train actuaries across Indonesia. I then moved on with President Vivek Goel and other Deans to the Canada-in-Asia 2023 Conferenceand to host alumni events in Singapore. Our whirlwind trip then took us to Hong Kong where we hosted many UW and Math alumni events, with Waterloo Math grads from the last 50 years, as well as prospective students.
As always, I’m excited to share news and accomplishments from our talented Faculty.
Health and wellness:
In 2022, the FoM launched the Key Clues Challenge, a team-based community engagement and development activity that encourages undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff, instructors, and alumni (new this year) to work together in groups of four to eight to solve a series of puzzles over three days. The inaugural competition was well-received by our community, with many expressing their excitement for this year’s challenge! As we begin planning for this year, I invite members of our community to come forward and join Robert Bruce and Ty Ghaswala as volunteers on the 2023 Key Clues Development Team. They are looking for Enigmatologists: the brains behind the puzzles. If you are interested, please connectwith Robert Bruce.
The Employee Health and Wellbeing Committee is opening its nominations for the 2023-24 term. If you are looking to get more involved in our community or have ideas for the direction of wellness programming, this might be the opportunity for you. Interested staff can reach out to Robert Bruce to learn more, or submit nominations through the committee’s web page before Friday, March 17.
The Living Wellness Campaign looks to expand its offerings by inviting staff and faculty to share their own talents or hobbies with our community. We are looking for anyone who may be interested in teaching a class or workshop, leading a walking/running group, being a facilitator for weekly card games, etc. If this sounds like you, please connect with our Community Well-being and Engagement Officer, Robert Bruce.
Equity, diversity, and inclusion:
In March, Canada recognizes several important and commemorative dates, including International Women’s Day (March 8th) and the International Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31st). Our Capacity Building and Community of Practice Circles this month will explore “Gender Equity as a United Nations Sustainability Goal.” You can find out more about the Circles and register via TicketFi (enter code EDIMar2023 to access the page).
Note that the University of Waterloo’s Territorial Acknowledgment has changed to better reflect the role of our Office of Indigenous Relations: the phrasing is now “coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations,” replacing “centralized within our Indigenous Initiatives Office.” If you include the acknowledgment in your email signature or presentation slides, please be sure to adjust the wording accordingly.
Advancement:
The Advancement team will be celebrating Pi Day with alumni around the world this year. A special Pi Day video outlining the recent accomplishments of the Faculty will be shared by email on March 14th and the Faculty’s social media channels will provide details about how alumni can win a prize and maybe even win a pie!
As a reminder, the final Data & Discussion event, Data + Diversity, is taking place on March 7 in Toronto. The event will be moderated by Charmain Dean (PhD ‘88), Vice-President of Research and International, and a professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science. The discussion will explore ethical data governance and ask how it can be used to promote diversity within organizations.
Events:
- On March 5 and 6, the Faculty of Mathematics welcomes future graduate students to campus to visit and experience UW student life, discover more about their program and the Faculty, and network and meet with potential supervisors, current students, and future classmates.
- Register now for the next virtual Pivot-RP workshop for faculty members and graduate students, which is scheduled for March 9 from 1:30-2:30 p.m.
- High school students are invited to visit campus on Saturday, March 18th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at our winter Open House, to sit in on program presentations, meet current students and professors, and take a tour of campus. Registration is appreciated.
- Celebrations will take place across the Faculty of Mathematics and around the world for Pi Day on March 14. Don’t forget to enjoy your favorite pie and celebrate with your friends and family!
- Join us on March 21 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm for the next installment in the Entrepreneurship & Impact series: an “ask me anything” with Natalie Gordon, a Waterloo Computer Science alum and founder and CEO of Babylist. Register to attend here.
- The Math graduating class of 2023 will be celebrating before they graduate during the Math Grad Send-Off on March 23 in Federation Hall. All 2023 graduating students are invited to attend, along with faculty and staff. Registerby March 10 to attend.
- On April 17 and 18, we will host the inaugural Research Discovery Days, which brings together graduate students, faculty, and industry leaders to build community relationship and highlights cutting edge research across multiple sectors within the Faculty of Mathematics.
Research, education and media coverage:
- The CEMC conducted contests in February for students across Canada and internationally. More than 10,000 participants from grades 9 to 12 registered for the Canadian Computing Competition, a fun challenge for participants with an interest in programming. About 60,000 participants registered for the Pascal, Cayley and Fermat contests, designed for students in grades 9 to 11 to help build confidence and inspire them to get excited about math. Read more about the CEMC’s contests here.
- Computer Science professor Maura R. Grossman was featured in The Record discussing gender biases against women in tech.
- First-year Computer Science student and Schulich Leader Scholar Sarah Wilson was profiled in Waterloo News.
Faculty awards:
Congratulations to:
- Two professors who received prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships: Sophie Spirkl of Combinatorics and Optimization, and Sepehr Assadi, who will be joining Computer Science soon.
- David McKinnon (Pure Math), who won the Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision.
- Siv Sivaloganathan, Chair of Applied Mathematics, who is currently visiting the University of Canterbury in New Zealand on a prestigious Erskine Fellowship.
- Two professors of Statistics and Actuarial Science who won awards at the ASQ’s World Conference on Quality and Improvement: Stefan Steiner, who won the 2023 ASQ Shewhart Medal, and Nathaniel Stevens, who won the 2023 ASQ Feigenbaum Medal.
Student awards:
The Faculty of Mathematics celebrated with close to 200 students in Federation Hall on February 6 during the 35th Annual Undergraduate Awards Celebration. The celebration recognized the achievements of our talented undergraduate students. Thank you to all those who attended!
In addition, congratulations to:
- The two winners of the Faculty of Mathematics Graduate Research Excellence Award: Jacob Campbell, a PhD Candidate in Pure Math, and Mahbod Majid, a recent Master’s graduate from Computer Science.
- Computer Science master’s candidate Niki Hasrati and professor Shai Ben-David, who won best paper award at ALT 2023 for their paper, “On Computable Online Learning.”
Faculty announcements:
- Ronald Garth Dunkley, a longtime Faculty of Mathematics professor and founding director of the CEMC, passed away on February 19 at the age of 92. Visit his in memoriam page for more information about his life and many accomplishments.
Staff announcements:
Welcome to the following:
- Amr Abdelaal will be joining CEMC, on contract, as Strategic Advisor on Information Systems, on March 6.
- Lianna Seebach will be joining CEMC as Outreach Activities Administrator, on March 6.
Departures:
- Cristen Brown (Math Advancement) has taken a new role in Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business; her last day with Math was February 16.
- Terry Bae (CEMC) has taken a secondment opportunity in CEL beginning on February 20.
- Silvana Shamuon (Computer Science) is taking a role off campus; her last day was February 28.
- Amanda Lutz (C&O) will be taking a new role in Political Science; her last day with Math is March 17.
Looking forward:
In a couple short weeks, we’ll be celebrating Pi Day, one of the highlights of the year for members of our Math community! I’m looking forward to sharing conversation and a slice (or two!) of pie with so many of you on March 14!
All the best for a successful completion of Winter term.
Mark Giesbrecht
Dean, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo
