Congratulations to today's graduates and honorees!
From the University of Waterloo Daily Bulletin:
Today, graduating students in the Faculty of Mathematics will receive their degrees.
Graduating this morning are students in St. Jerome's University registered in Mathematics programs, as well as students in the Faculty of Mathematics. Programs celebrating this morning include Applied Mathematics, Combinatorics and Optimization, Computational Mathematics, Information Technology Management, Mathematical Economics, Mathematical Finance, Mathematical Physics, Mathematical Studies, Mathematics/Business Administration, Mathematics/Chartered Accountancy, Mathematics/Financial Analysis and Risk Management, Mathematics/Teaching, Mathematics Three Year General, Pure Mathematics, and Scientific Computation/Applied Mathematics.
187 undergraduate students, 51 Master's students, and 7 PhD candidates will receive their degrees.
Bearing the mace is Frank Zorzitto, Professor Emeritus, Department of Pure Mathematics. Birgit Moscinski will sing the national anthem.
Wai Ho Christopher Ng is valedictorian and will deliver an address.
Barry
Mazur will
be
given
an Honorary
Doctor
of
Mathematics
and
will
address
Convocation.
Professor
Mazur
is
the Gerhard
Gade
University
Professor
in
the
Department
of
Mathematics
at
Harvard
University.
He
is
both
a
brilliant
mathematician
and
an
extraordinary
teacher,
and
is
considered
a
world-leading
expert
in
number
theory.
Professor Mazur is one of the most influential mathematicians alive today. He pursued his undergraduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but was not granted a bachelor’s degree on account of failing a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps requirement. His mathematical ability was nonetheless recognized and he went on to earn his PhD in mathematics in 1959 from Princeton University. From there, he would make many important and seminal contributions in number theory, automorphic forms and algebraic geometry. His work and his vision have affected the direction of number theory, such that a former dean of Harvard College once stated "It is not an exaggeration to say that the next generation of number theorists came out of Mazur's overcoat". In addition to his significant accomplishments, he displays a unique ability to engage biologists, economists, physicists, and others to trace the ways in which mathematics is integral to the structure of knowledge in their disciplines.
He is the recipient of four major prizes from the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Mazur was elected a member of the National Academy of Science in 1982, and in 2001, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In 2013, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Barack Obama, which is the United States' highest recognition for scientists and mathematicians.
Frank
Zorzitto
will
be
named
Honorary
Member
of
the
University.
Zorzitto
served
as
chair
of
pure
mathematics
for
more
than
11
years,
the
longest
in
the
department's
history,
and
under
his
care
the
department
has
developed
an
enviable
reputation
for
its
exceptional
level
of
collegiality
on
top
of
its
academic
contributions.
Indeed
he
was
an
early
proponent
and
pioneering
supporter
for
the
hiring
of
women
in
a
discipline
that
sees
heavy
male
representation,
as
well
as
fostering
an
environment
where
successful
mathematicians
could
also
be
committed
parents.
His exemplary record of service includes: Board of Governors (two years); Senate (12 years) and Senate committees; the Faculty Association; the teaching excellence council; nomination committees including for the university president and faculty dean; chair of Faculty Council; his record of strong engagement with high schools, and much more. In 1993 he won the University's Distinguished Teaching Award, and he is co-author of a number of advanced and high school level textbooks.
In the afternoon ceremony at 2:30 p.m., students from Actuarial Science, Biostatistics, Business Administration/Mathematics Double Degree, Computer Science, Computing and Financial Management, Quantitative Finance, and Statistics will receive their degrees. 675 undergraduates, 70 Master's students, and 23 PhD candidates will receive degrees. Follow along with the Convocation livestream.
Dean of Mathematics Stephen Watt will bear the mace into the Physical Activities Complex. The national anthem will be sung by Birgit Moscinski.
The class valedictorian is Isabel Jiayo Ji, who will address Convocation.
David Choi receives the Governor General's Silver Medal for highest standing in an undergraduate degree program.
Minyang Han receives the Governor General's Gold Medal for highest standing in a Master's degree program.
Tas Tsonis will be awarded the J. Wesley Graham Medal in Computing and Innovation.
Raymond Cheng will receive the University of Waterloo Alumni Gold Medal in recognition of academic achievement.
Jimmy He will receive the Jessie W.H. Zou Memorial Award for excellence in undergraduate research.
Xuling Wang will be granted the Samual Eckler Medal for Highest Standing in Actuarial Science.
Tor Myklebust will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Graduate Studies award at the Doctoral level.
Johnny
Wong
will
be
named Distinguished
Professor
Emeritus. During
the
last
forty
years,
Professor
Wong
has
had
a
long
and
distinguished
career
at
Waterloo
with
significant
contributions
to
research,
teaching
and
administration.
His
prolific
research
career
includes
thirty-nine
journal
publications,
78
articles
in
refereed
conference
proceedings
and
a
patent
for
early
work
on
telephony
over
the
internet.
His
most
significant
work
concerns
the
architecture
and
performance
of
communication
networks,
and
he
is
regarded
as
a
pioneer
in
the
use
of
queuing
theory
and
simulation
for
analysis
of
communication
algorithms
in
distributed
systems.
He has supervised 17 doctoral students to completion, as well as 48 master’s students; many of these students have gone on to prominent careers in academic and industrial fields. He has been on the editorial boards of several high ranking journals, has served on technical program committees for numerous prominent conferences, and has served on several NSERC committees. He is also is well-known for his many roles in administration, including: Associate Provost, Computing (1989-94); Director, Institute for Computer Research; coordinator, Bell University Laboratories (1998-02); and Director of the Cheriton School of Computer Science (2003-2006).
David
Taylor
will
be
named Honorary
Member
of
the
University. Professor
Taylor
provided
38
years
of
outstanding
service
to
the
University
of
Waterloo,
including
a
distinguished
career
of
service
in
administrative
roles.
He served a six-year term as associate dean for undergraduate studies and a four-year term as director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. He also served a term on Senate, and a term on the Board of Governors (as one of the elected faculty Senators) including on the Board Executive Committee. Further, Professor Taylor served twice as associate chair (curriculum), once in the 1980s and once in the 1990s; he also served his research field well in conference committees and journal editorships as a senior researcher of his notable stature.
His painstaking, exacting work was driven by his consistent goal of identifying what is good for the university (rather than just his corner of it), his excellent preparation, and his sense of justice and fairness. His work on staff relations within computer science is one of the more unsung of his achievements. Perhaps most important, he spent much of his career lending his skills to the betterment of the university such that many in the university community would affirm that he served when necessary, not only when desirable.
Photograph of Barry Mazur by Jim Harrison.
Photograph of David Taylor by Katelyn Debus.