At today’s convocation ceremony, two graduates from the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization were recognized as the Alumni Gold Medallists for their academic work. André Linhares Rodrigues is awarded Recognition of Academic Achievement Doctoral, and Samuel Erik Jaques for Recognition of Academic Achievement Master’s.
Supervised by Professor Chaitanya Swamy, André has published papers in foremost venues in mathematical programming, combinatorial optimization, and theoretical computer science, in addition to being a stellar ambassador for graduate studies and an exemplary TA. Sam, supervised by Professors Alfred Menezes and Michele Mosca, is now focused on problems that will play an important role in building the foundations for cryptographic security in the context of quantum computing at Oxford University where he’s begun his PhD.
The honours for members of the combinatorics and optimization department didn’t stop there. Professor Chris Godsil, a world-leading authority in the field of Algebraic Combinatorics, in particular Algebraic Graph Theory, was designated Distinguished Professor Emeritus. In addition to his influential research, Godsil has served as department chair and several times as associate chair for graduate affairs since he joined Waterloo in 1987.
One of our retired members of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science was designated an Honorary Member of the University. Vic DiCiccio was instrumental in founding the Institute for Computer Research (ICR) and built collaborations across the University and with corporate partners in computing, communications and other aspects of information technology. Alumna Ginny Dybenko (MMath ’72) also received the designation of Honorary Member of the University.
A Faculty of Mathematics-specific award, The KD Fryer Gold Medal, was awarded at today’s ceremony to Joanna Ting Yuan (Math/CPA) as someone who best exemplifies high academic standing and good student citizenship. This is the second time in three years that the award has been given to a Math/CPA student.
We wish all of our newest 483 graduates the best as they begin the next part of their journey. The Faculty of Mathematics now has a total of 41,233 alumni in more than 100 countries around the world.