News

The University of Waterloo finds itself amongst the top universities in Canada and around the world, according to Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) worldwide university subject rankings.

Computer Science remains Waterloo’s top-rated subject internationally, ranking 23. Mathematics ranks 35 globally, joining Computer Science in the top 100 this year along with 12 other Waterloo programs. Mathematics and Computer Science are two of three university subjects in the top 50 globally.

Professor Jason Bell has been named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) for 2021. Bell (BMath ’97) was selected as one of the 46 mathematical scientists from around the world and the only one from a Canadian university.

The faculty is now the first Faculty of Mathematics to hold Sponsoring Institutional Membership of the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM). 

AWM encourages women and girls to study and to have active careers in the mathematical sciences, and to promote equal opportunity and the equal treatment of women and girls in the mathematical sciences.

Camelia Nunez will further the innovation agenda in the Faculty of Mathematics by supporting entrepreneurial activities and facilitating meaningful collaborations between researchers and external partners, when she assumes the role of Director of Innovation and Research Partnerships on August 4th.

Nunez will promote the faculty’s mathematical innovation and entrepreneurship growth by raising the research profile, initiating and developing industry relationships, and ensuring more research funding.

We are sad to share the news that Peter Ponzo passed away peacefully on July 5, 2020 after a battle with bone cancer.

Peter became an Assistant Professor at the University of Waterloo in 1964. Peter was known for his ability to make calculus so simple and logical. “His lectures were something to behold,” said Ron Dunkley, once Associate Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics. “He was a fabulous teacher with a beautiful way of expressing calculus.”

Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science professor Marius Hofert and David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science professors Sergey Gorbonuv, Gautum Kamath and Jian Zhao have each been awarded a Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Accelerator Supplement (DAS).

John Cabeen Beatty III (November 27, 1947 – July 2, 2020)

John Cabeen Beatty III passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning of July 2, 2020 at his home on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. He was born in New York City on November 27, 1947. His father was a lawyer and later a member of the Oregon State Legislature and a judge. His mother was a founding research scientist at the Oregon Primate Research Center whose public service included membership on the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council under three consecutive governors.

In addition to a new dean in the Faculty of Mathematics starting on July 1, we welcomed two new unit heads. Jochen Koenemann returns as chair of the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization and Raouf Boutaba becomes the eighth director of the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science.

When Shanku Niyogi (BMath CS ’94) learned about the Waterloo Student Emergency Support Fund, he knew he had to pitch in.

A result of the collaboration of campus leadership with the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA), the Student Emergency Support Fund provides short-term financial help for students facing unexpected expenses as a result of COVID-19.

Recent PhD graduates, Tom Kelly (Combinatorics and Optimization) and Priyank Jaini (Computer Science), have been awarded the Faculty of Mathematics Doctoral Prize. Now in its second year, these prizes are awarded annually to recognize the achievements of top graduating doctoral students in the Faculty of Mathematics.