Talent

Honorary doctorates recognize those thought leaders and influencers advancing society across a spectrum of disciplines. Our graduates can look to these people for inspiration as they prepare themselves for the future.

At Fall 2022 Convocation, the University confers honorary degrees on Dr. Claudia Klüppelberg and Gerry Remers. Find out more about these academic and industry leaders.

Dr. Claudia Klüppelberg

“Inspiration, technology, competency, structure and risk.” These are the pillars that Commander Chris Hadfield said are the requirements for advancing the future of aeronautics at the inaugural Sustainable Aeronautics Summit on October 5, 2022.

For Jalisa Karim, interdisciplinary work comes naturally.

This fall, Karim will graduate with a BMath in biostatistics and a BA in sexuality, marriage and family studies.

While some might question her choice to pursue degrees from two very different sides of campus, for her the pairing makes sense.

“I think interdisciplinary research is so important,” she says. “Fields don’t exist in a vacuum. Understanding the context around the research questions you’re trying to answer is essential.”

If there is one key commonality among PhD researchers at the University of Waterloo, it is a commitment to applied research.

Waterloo’s PhD programs are scholarly and rigorous in terms of theoretical sophistication and depth and breadth of knowledge. But the University’s spirit of innovation calls on PhD students to find a practical application for their work.

Oluwakemi (Kemi) Amodu is dedicated to advancing the reproductive and sexual health of the Hausa women in displaced persons camps in northern Nigeria.

When Pira Ravikumaran arrived at Hack the North on Friday night, he admits he felt a little nervous.

As a fourth-year Chemical Engineering student at Waterloo, he was new to coding and wasn’t sure if his lack of experience would be a problem. The 36-hour turbocharged (and highly caffeinated) event brings together over a thousand students, experts and sponsors from around the world to Waterloo’s campus each year to code, compete, learn and network.

How would Ravikumaran keep up at Canada’s largest hackathon?

Growing up, Rico Mariani saw the struggles women face in the workplace. He remembers how his mother had to fight to receive the same compensation as her male co-workers.

Today, Rico remains painfully aware of the everyday challenges — and sometimes, outright dangers — faced by women, people of colour and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

For Jocelyn Bonti-Ankomah, seeing women in pharmacy who looked like her inspired her to pursue a career in the industry. Now, after receiving a student award honouring her community service, she’s encouraging other women of colour to achieve their goals.

Whether you’re old or young, memory can be a challenge for all kinds of reasons, and most of us would welcome strategies to help improve our memory. Waterloo’s researchers in psychology have been helping with this area of cognition for years — and the impact of their research on what we know about memory continues with graduate students.