Highlights of Waterloo's fall convocation will include:
Friday, October 21, 10 a.m.
Applied Health Sciences and Science
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University and he is considered
the father of positive psychology, the study of human strengths.
His studies focus on what makes people happy and how these
experiences contribute to personal growth. His research introduced flow — a metaphorical description of mental states associated with
optimal satisfaction and fulfillment. Professor Csikszentmihalyi’s theory has influenced business, government, education and leisure. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address convocation.
- Brant Fries is a professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of
Public Health at the University of Michigan and chief of Health Systems Research at the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center,
Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Internationally renowned for his research on assessment and funding systems for long-term care, Fries is the founding president of interRAI, a 35-country network of researchers focused on the development and application of clinical assessment systems for vulnerable persons of all ages. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.
Friday, October 21, 2:30 p.m.
Environment and Mathematics
- David L. Donoho is a professor of statistics and the Anne T. and
Robert M. Bass Professor of the Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. He earned his AB from Princeton and PhD from Harvard,
both in statistics. Donoho began his career in the Department of
Statistics at the University of California, Berkeley and later moved
to the Department of Statistics at Stanford University. He has received numerous awards
for his research, and is widely regarded as being one of the greatest statisticians and applied mathematicians of his generation. He will receive an honorary Doctor of Mathematics degree and address convocation.
Saturday, October 22, 10 a.m.
Arts
- Cindy Blackstock is a professor in the School of Social Work at McGill
University and the executive director of the First Nations Child and
Family Caring Society of Canada. A member of the Gitxsan First
Nation of northern British Columbia, she founded the First Nations Children’s Action Research and Education Service, an organization dedicated
to eliminating the structural drivers of disadvantage that impact First Nations children and their families. She served as an Honorary Witness to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Canada’s Residential Schools. Blackstock will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree and address convocation.
Saturday, October 22, 2:30 p.m.
Engineering
- C. James “Jim” Cooper is CEO and president of Maplesoft, a highly successful mathematics and engineering software company based in Waterloo. He is an alumnus of mechanical engineering at Waterloo, and has devoted his professional career to uniting the engineering
and mathematics perspectives into a ground-breaking, system-level approach to engineering design. By positioning Maplesoft as a market leader in engineering modeling and simulation, he has strengthened Canada’s leadership position in advanced engineering technology. Cooper will receive an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree and address convocation.
- Jonathan Sykes, an internationally respected researcher in the area
of groundwater flow and transport modelling, will become Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He spent 39 years as a
professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
at Waterloo. He earned his doctorate, master’s and
bachelor’s degrees all from Waterloo, and joined the department in 1975 as assistant professor. Sykes became full professor in 1982 and was department chair for six years.
All ceremonies take place in the Physical Activities Complex.
More information on Waterloo's 113th convocation is available on the website.
Members of the media are required to register in advance with the media contact below.
