A message from the President and Vice-Chancellor
This year marks 30 years since Black History Month was officially recognized in Canada. The national theme in 2026 is 30 Years of Black History Month: Honouring Black Brilliance Across Generations — From Nation Builders to Tomorrow’s Visionaries.
The theme recognizes the lasting contributions of Black Canadians. It honours leadership, creativity, innovation and resilience across generations. It also looks ahead to the future, something we do here every day at the University of Waterloo.
At Waterloo, generations of Black students, alumni, faculty and staff have helped shape a better future for all. Some do this through research and education. Others do it through ideas that improve lives in Canada and around the world. This month, I encourage our community to learn about the people whose work reflects that vision.
One example is staff member Silas Ifeanyi. As an engineering educational developer at the Pearl Sullivan Engineering IDEAs Clinic, helping engineers stretch their minds and seize opportunities to enrich people’s lives. To close out 2025 he helped lead a new partnership with the United Nations Quality of Life initiative with a Quality-of-Life hackathon at Waterloo. This past December, Silas, travelled to his native Ghana to run a second hackathon at the University of Ghana, and somehow also found time to lead a quantum key distribution workshop at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Black Brilliance Across Generations means solving problems with the future in mind. Dr. Tizazu Mekonnen is a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He led a team that developed a plant-based superabsorbent hydrogel. The material can replace petroleum-based plastics in products people rely on every day. This research helps ensure future generations can meet basic needs without damaging the planet.
For University of Waterloo Black alumni, their time here is often just the beginning. Take, Seun Adetunji (MBET ’24) an Engineering alum is the founder of MedInclude, an AI-enabled platform helping patients better understand medical information by translating complex medical language into plain terms.
University of Waterloo Black brilliance is making its presence felt globally as well. Eyitemi Popo (MDEI ’16) is a Forbes-listed social entrepreneur and founder of Girls Trip Tours, a women-centred travel company redefining how people experience Africa. Through culturally immersive, impact-driven trips and partnerships with women-led local businesses, her work uses tourism as a tool for empowerment, mentorship, and community growth.
Closer to home here in Canada, Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman left Waterloo in 2003 with an MMath in Biostatistics. Today, she’s the first Black female president of the Ontario Medical Association. Her story is pure Waterloo. Her unconventional approach to becoming a doctor led her to embrace biostatistics and build bridges between traditional medicine and using statistical insights to improve health outcomes.
These stories reflect only a small part of the Black brilliance across our campus community. They show how ideas, research and care for others help build a stronger society. I invite you to explore Waterloo’s Black History Month stories. Join me in recognizing the contributions of Black Canadians at Waterloo and across Canada
