Professor Shawn Wettig, begins his two-year tenure as the Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies & Postdoctoral Affair Feb 1
Thursday, January 14, 2021

Shawn Wettig named new Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs

Shawn Wettig
On February 1, 2021, Professor Shawn Wettig will begin his two-year tenure as the Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs. Since 2007, Shawn has been a faculty member in the School of Pharmacy and is cross appointed to the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical Engineering.  Shawn will be working alongside Professor Liz Nilsen, who began her appointment as the Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs on July 1, 2020.

Since November 2018, Shawn has been the Associate Dean (AD) Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Science. During this time, Shawn has worked collaboratively with departments and schools to support students’ timely completion of their programs and has focused on increasing graduate student enrolment in the Faculty of Science.  Prior to his AD role, Shawn was the Associate Director for Graduate Studies and Research in the School of Pharmacy (2015 – 2018), where he led the self study for the first (2 year) program review of the Pharmacy PhD program. He also led the self study for the first cyclic review of the Pharmacy MSc program and was part of the committee to develop the new MPharm (Master of Pharmacy) in Advanced Pharmacy Practice program, as a new option for Pharmacists seeking to add skills in leadership and specialized clinical training to their CV and as an alternative to limited residency options.  Shawn is also a Chartered Chemist with the Association of the Chemical Profession of Ontario, and a Captain in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves.

Shawn replaces Professor Kirsten Müller, whose term as the Assistant Vice-President, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs ended in 2020; we wish Kirsten the best of luck in her new role as the Chair of the Department of Biology

As the Assistant Vice-President, GSPA, Shawn will lead in the implementation of initiatives arising from the Strategic Plan.  These include the creation of new, interdisciplinary options for our graduate students that are being developed in partnership with the Faculties.  

Liz will continue to focus on work-integrated learning opportunities, ensuring graduate studies representation within the University of Waterloo Strategic Plan on those topics – and will continue to work on initiatives aimed to enhance the experience of graduate students.   

Additionally, both Liz and Shawn will work alongside Jeff Casello, Associate Vice-President, GSPA to provide academic leadership and oversight on graduate studies and postdoctoral affairs at the University of Waterloo.