From the University of Waterloo Daily Bulletin
This afternoon will see 509 students from the Faculty of Mathematics receive their degrees at the 2:30 pm ceremony, along with graduates of the Faculty of Environment.
Frank Tompa will receive the title Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Tompa earned his PhD at the University of Toronto and was a professor for 40 years at the University of Waterloo where he was the founding director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. His research is epitomized in the New Oxford English Dictionary (OED) project which would lead to his co-founding of OpenText, and he has held numerous visiting professor and visiting researcher positions. He is a fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery, was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and he received the degree Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Dalhousie University in 2013. His achievements are publicly recognized in the naming of the road in front of OpenText as “Frank Tompa Drive”.
Steve Brown will be named an honorary member of the University. Brown entered the University of Waterloo as an undergraduate and earned his doctorate in 1974, thereupon joining UWaterloo and beginning a distinguished 40 year career. Leading by example, he is a researcher committed to the development and application of statistical methods in public health research as well as a dedicated and engaging teacher and an effective senior administrator in the faculty. He was recognized for his commitment to secondary school mathematics education in 2009 when he was awarded a medal by the Society of Descartes Medallists, and played a pivotal leadership role in the formation of the Health Behaviour Research Group and helped form the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact.
Ahmad Abdi will receive the University of Waterloo Alumni Gold Medal for outstanding academic performance in a master's program.
Emily Kozlowski will receive the K.D. Fryer Gold Medal for High Academic Standing in Mathematics together with Good Student Citizenship.
Ryan Henry will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies award at the doctoral level.
Congratulations to today's graduates and honorees!