WATERLOO, Ont. (Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2011) - Lois Claxton, a key adviser to Governor General David Johnston and former senior executive at the University of Waterloo, is one of four people being honoured during Waterloo's fall convocation to be held next month.
Also at convocation on Saturday, Oct. 22, Waterloo will officially install Feridun Hamdullahpur as the university's sixth president and vice-chancellor during the first session of the 103rd convocation. Chancellor Prem Watsa will conduct Hamdullahpur's installation, beginning at 10 a.m. in the physical activities complex.
Claxton, who served in the university secretariat and university library for 32 years, will receive the title of honorary member of the university at the same convocation session, which confers degrees on students in applied health sciences, arts and social work.
As head of the university secretariat for 20 years, Claxton worked with four presidents and six provosts, guiding the university through a period of significant growth. The secretariat is responsible for the working of the university's governing bodies, policies, committee proceedings and legal matters.
Claxton also played an important part in preserving the university's history by writing the forwards to Ken McLaughlin's 40th and 50th anniversary books: Waterloo: The Unconventional Founding of an Unconventional University, and Out of the Shadow of Orthodoxy: Waterloo@ 50.
In convocation's afternoon session, Paul Hebert, a professor of integrative biology at the University of Guelph, will receive an honorary doctor of science degree and address graduating students in engineering, environment, mathematics, science and in the master of business, entrepreneurship and technology (MBET) program, beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Hebert, dubbed the "father of DNA barcoding," leads a global effort to DNA barcode all species on the planet. His methodology has helped to identify hundreds of species previously unknown to science. He is also the director of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario and the Canadian Barcode of Life Network, and holds a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Biodiversity.
At the same session, David Roulston, an internationally recognized researcher in bipolar semiconductor devices and integrated circuits, will receive an honorary doctor of engineering degree. He developed the BIPOLE fast computer program for numerical simulation of semiconductor bipolar devices, which now is used by industry and universities worldwide. The retired Waterloo professor has published more than 100 technical papers and holds six patents.
Harry Panjer, a retired professor of statistics and actuarial science, will be named a distinguished professor emeritus. One of only two academics ever elected president of the Society of Actuaries, Panjer played a leading role in nurturing Waterloo's reputation as a centre of actuarial education and research.
