Current students

As a member of Waterloo’s football team, Greg Somerville learned that those three components can make the winning difference — in sport, in business and in life.

After graduating from Waterloo’s history program, he used those lessons to launch what would become a highly successful career in the insurance industry, retiring as president and CEO of Aviva Canada in 2018.

On October 27, the 2021 Hagey Lecture hosted Mark Jaccard, one of Canada’s foremost thinkers on climate change policy and economics. Jaccard delivered his talk to approximately 60 people attending in person at the University of Waterloo’s Theatre of the Arts and 200 people viewing online. Jaccard’s thought-provoking talk focused on four key challenges to decarbonization, two elements of a simple path forward, and four barriers to overcome in order to achieve the simple path.

Maura R. Grossman, JD, PhD, is a Research Professor in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, and an affiliate faculty member of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. She is also Principal at Maura Grossman Law, an eDiscovery law and consulting firm in Buffalo, New York.

Six women from the University of Waterloo were named among the top 100 most powerful women in Canada in the annual rankings released by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN). This year’s list includes Clarice Ward, Jacqueline Beckford-Henriques, Suzanne Kearns, Anita Layton, Carolyn Ren and Pearl Sullivan (in memoriam). 

During her graduate studies, Kathryn Morrison worked both inside and outside the classroom to support ethical challenges in pediatric end of life decisions. Her research and interests lie in the theoretical ethics of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) for mature minors — capable children under 18 years-old.

For Xipeng Huang, completing an undergraduate degree in the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo was the culmination of years of hard work. He made sacrifices, faced challenges and struggled along the way.

But the hard work paid off, as Huang graduated with a 94 per cent overall average, putting him at the pinnacle of excellence in the Faculty of Mathematics. He majored in mathematical finance and statistics and minored in pure mathematics. 

Thrive Month focused on building a culture of wellbeing and normalizing mental health struggles for Waterloo students and employees. President Goel shares a message to the University community to kick off Thrive Month.

On October 6, President Vivek Goel held a forum to share his perspectives and opportunities for the University. This forum was the first of what will be a series of three sessions that will explore themes from the University’s strategic plan. The president was joined by a panel of Waterloo senior leaders to explore the future of work and how the University develops talent for a complex future.

Learn more

As the world continues to change and everyone rethinks their business, the digital divide could further divide those who have access to technology and those that do not — but we’ll see a new gap in digital skills.

“There’s a new digital divide that’s going to come upon us — it’s going to be those that have the skills to thrive in a digital world and those who don’t,” said Vivek Goel, University of Waterloo president.

A social activist who started Waterloo’s software engineering program this semester is passionate about seeing what she can accomplish as a new student.

Charlene Rocha brings with her a wide range of experience from leading climate change events and strikes at Queen’s Park to heading up a Canadian high school chapter of an initiative to 3D print prosthetic limbs and advocating for women in STEM.