Douglas Wright joined Waterloo Engineering in 1958 because it was free of the constraints found at other universities at the time
It was the late 1950s when Douglas Wright was approached by recruiters representing several of the newer Canadian universities at the time.
Although some of the offers were tempting, the young civil engineering professor decided to join the fledging University of Waterloo because of the freedom it offered.
“It was free of all the ordinary constraints,” recalls the founding dean of Waterloo Engineering. “I thought engineering could be done in a more modern way and I chose Waterloo because I had absolute freedom to do what I wanted.”
Wright studied civil engineering at the Universities of Toronto, Illinois, and Cambridge where he received his doctorate. After working for a couple of years at Queen’s University, Wright joined Waterloo in 1958, just a year after the University opened its doors. He started as the first chairman of civil engineering, and soon after became the first dean of engineering. At just 31, he was the youngest dean of engineering in the country.
His focus on numerical analysis as a component of the engineering program, along with a continuing interest in engineering research, set Waterloo apart from many other universities. Wright was and remains a vocal proponent of Waterloo Engineering’s renowned co-operative education program on which the Faculty was built.
“The fact that we were doing things in a very different way was why other people thought we’d fail,” he says. “They thought how you did it was more important than what we were trying to achieve.”
During his tenure as dean ending in 1966, Waterloo developed into the largest school of engineering in Canada. Wright later became president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo, a position he held from 1981 to 1993.
Following the lead of their father and grandfather, two of his children and three of his grandchildren also came to Waterloo Engineering, although they were on the other side of the classroom. Son William, daughter Anna and granddaughter Samantha are systems design engineering alumni. Grandson Gregory is a chemical engineering graduate, and granddaughter Abbey is a current systems design engineering student.
This winter, the Wright family sat down together to talk about Waterloo Engineering at 60.
Looking back at the tremendous growth and achievements of Waterloo Engineering over the past 60 years, Douglas Wright says he was always confident the Faculty would do well.
“I knew it would be successful,” he says, adding with a smile, “but I didn’t know it would be quite so successful.”
You can read more about the Wrights and other multi-generational Waterloo Engineering families in July’s issue of WEAL.
