Congratulations to Max Bouthillier, winner of this year’s Rico Mariani 2SLGBTQ+ Graduate Award. The award is given annually to a graduate student in the Faculty of Mathematics who demonstrates academic excellence as well as involvement in activities that advance 2SLGBTQ+ initiatives and wellbeing on campus and in the larger community.
“Winning this award means a great deal to me, as I am not only honoured to have received it, but it also demonstrates the inclusivity and support offered by the Waterloo mathematics faculty,” Bouthillier says.
Bouthillier is a Computational Mathematics master’s student whose research focuses on the optimization of the healthcare industry utilizing advanced machine learning and artificial methodologies. While undergoing his undergraduate’s degree, he served as Vice President (Corporate Relations) for the Schulich Pride Alliance, raising more than 20,000$ in corporate partnerships in his final year. He now serves as an alumni advisor for the Alliance, a student-run organization at the Schulich School of Business at York University. The SPA has works to foster an inclusive and supportive community for 2SLGBTQ+ students and allies.
“I would like to thank all of the past and current members of the Alliance,” he says, “as well as everyone on the award committee and Rico Mariani for providing this amazing award.” Bouthillier hopes to continue his involvement with the Schulich Pride Alliance while also working to “shed more light on the diverse intersectionality within mathematics.”
Mariani, now a software architect at Microsoft, graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics in 1988 with a BMath. He established the award in an effort to help remove “barriers for 2SLGBTQ+ students in the Faculty of Mathematics.”
You can learn more about the award, and other graduate awards, on graduate studies website.