Welcome to the Office of the President
The Office of the President assists the President with activities on and off campus which includes working with internal and external stakeholders and managing communications and outreach.
Message from President Vivek Goel
Welcome. As President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo, I am proud to welcome you to our innovative institution.
The best and brightest are drawn to the University of Waterloo for our renowned academic programs, our world-leading co-operative education and our teaching and research excellence.
Waterloo has long fostered a culture of curiosity, exploration, risk-taking, entrepreneurship, global stewardship and leadership. In 1957, innovation and entrepreneurship brought University of Waterloo into being, as a group of business leaders imagined a new university built to tackle some of the world’s most daunting challenges.
Today, with more than 42,000+ students attending annually, Waterloo is #1 in Canada for experiential learning and employer-student connections. We bring bold ideas and brilliant minds together — inspiring innovations with global impact today and in the future.
During this period of rapid societal, technological and environmental change, our focus over the next few years is to continue to build on our unconventional foundation. We will position Waterloo to develop talent for a complex future, advance research for global impact and strengthen Waterloo’s sustainable and diverse communities.
Whether you are already part of our University community or looking to learn more about our institution, I invite you to connect with us, read our strategic plan or visit one of our campuses.
Sincerely,
Vivek Goel, CM
President and Vice-Chancellor
News
President Goel responds to PART Report
April 27
The University of Waterloo strives to support an equitable environment where everyone in our community can learn, grow and thrive. In 2020, we formed the President’s Anti-Racism Taskforce (PART) and made a public commitment to engage our community and address systemic racism across our campuses.
In consultation with the University community, PART developed eighty-eight recommendations to address racism at the University.
Implementation of such a comprehensive set of recommendations requires us all to make a commitment to enact changes here at Waterloo. I look forward to working with the University community to implement the recommendations.
Though we have a great deal of work ahead of us, this report also highlights the great work that has already happened across our campuses.
Anti-racism is the shared responsibility of our entire community – not that of a specific leader or a campus unit. I encourage everyone in the University community to take action to ensure that the PART recommendations are successfully implemented.
Losing our competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive world
May 9
University researchers across Canada and around the world are conducting extraordinary research, but Canada still isn’t making the most of these discoveries by turning them into innovative products to sell globally. Innovation requires momentum. It requires not only concerted effort by researchers pursuing bold and risky ideas but also deep connections with those who can develop the ideas for application, particularly in industry.
Open and constructive dialogue: A memo about respect and civility
May 5
It’s clear that our community must do some healing after two years of isolation and to address this pernicious movement to disrespectful, often hate-fueled dialogue. As we work together to reconnect and rekindle relationships, we must celebrate and preserve the University as a place where we can have different opinions and respectfully challenge one another to think differently.
As health care goes digital, the most vulnerable risk being left behind
April 7
Canadians have grown accustomed to having personal and community health information at their fingertips, via devices and apps that literally put our health in our hands. For the most part these are welcome innovations. But what if you’re someone who has no access, or limited access, to technology? It’s a conundrum with growing implications for social equity and community health.
Competing talent brain drain or brain gain
March 29
Speaking at the Toronto Board of Trade’s Workforce Summit 2.0, President Goel discussed the shared responsibility of the post-secondary education sector and industry to develop the talent that will reshape our local and global post-pandemic recovery.
President's statement on Russia's invasion of Ukraine
March 4
University of Waterloo is unwavering in our solidarity with the innocent victims of this invasion, and we stand in support of those who are calling for an end to the invasion. I recognize, too, that conflicts and tragedy are happening and have happened in many places around the world.
In pursuit of a world-class health data system
February 17
The Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy report, authored by an Expert Advisory group, points out the need for a culture shift in health data use. Public input has to be part of the transformation to person-centred health care and health data systems.
Ujima Black History Month
January 31
A message from Dr. Vivek Goel, President and Vice-Chancellor and Dr. Christopher Taylor Associate Vice-President, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Anti-racism
The University of Waterloo is proud to celebrate February as Ujima Black History Month. Ujima (oo-JEE-mah) comes from the Swahili word that represents a principle of Kwanzaa: To build and maintain our community together and make our ‘brothers and sisters’ problems our problems to solve together.
Seizing a digital future
January 24
Vivek Goel: "Now is the time for universities to create a broader vision for a digital future that is inclusive, international and interdisciplinary."
As universities across Canada begin to make plans to return to on-campus and in-person learning, we have to consider whether a return to “normal” after the pandemic is our best option. Indeed, complacency now might be a missed opportunity to seize a digital future.
Canada is falling behind globally on public funding for universities. That's a problem.
January 6, 2021
Vivek Goel: "How do we ensure that the financial resources available to Canadian universities are commensurate with the positioning we seek on the global stage?"
Read the op-ed in Maclean's.
