Dr. Crystal Senko
Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Faculty of Science
> Institute for Quantum Computing
> Co-founder, Open Quantum Design
Dr. Leia Minaker
Professor, School of Planning
Faculty of Environment
> Future Cities Institute
Mark Schaan (BA ’02)
Alum, Political Science
Faculty of Arts
> Associate Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere — hailed as a revolution, feared as a disruption, but ultimately defined by how thoughtfully we choose to use it.
Did you know your optometrist is likely a University of Waterloo graduate? Or that Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy offers Canada’s only pharmacy co-op program? Waterloo doesn’t just teach — our programs transform our students into allied health professionals who diagnose, treat, rehabilitate and support patients, improving lives across Canada and beyond.
Dr. Laura Middleton, associate professor in Kinesiology and Health Sciences and Schlegel Research Chair in Dementia and Active Living, has helped develop Dementia Capable Communities: new resources aimed at communities to help promote the well-being and independence of those living with dementia.
Dr. Troy Glover (PhD ’00)
Faculty of Health
This year brought countless reasons to celebrate as Waterloo students, alumni and researchers took bold new steps to innovate and create solutions for a complex future.
As we wrap up 2025, we reflect with pride and share just a glimpse of student success, on-campus initiatives and groundbreaking research of our Waterloo community.
Although at times bewildering, the tunnels and bridges connecting buildings at the University of Waterloo have become beloved spaces for the generations of students who pass through them. So much so, in fact, that in March 2025, Waterloo students spontaneously held a funeral for an unlikely subject: the bridge between the Davis Centre (DC) and Math and Computer Building (MC).
At the University of Waterloo, our work builds a healthier, more sustainable and more prosperous future for humanity and our planet.
We do this by bringing together some of the most unstoppable people from Canada and around the world who live our values of working together, acting with purpose and thinking differently.
In the spirit of Waterloo at 100, we asked members of our community to look ahead and imagine what Waterloo will be most famous for at our 100th anniversary in 2057.
Four Indigenous students at the University of Waterloo are the recipients of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) awards. The $392,000 in funding supports research in the Faculties of Arts, Environment and Health and bring together Traditional Knowledge and western science.