Faculty Service Award Winners

2024: Dr. Julia Williams

For the last two decades, Julia Williams has been tireless in supporting communication skills initiatives for multilingual students. Collaborating with chairs and administrators across faculties, Julia has designed courses to address the distinct learning needs of multilingual math, engineering, and other students, creating course pathways that support their agency, autonomy, and long-term development. She has served actively on numerous university-wide committees to develop communication curricula, including the Steering Committee for English Language Competency Initiatives, the Undergraduate Communication Outcomes Initiative, and the Arts First Advisory Committee, to name but a few. Through these committees, and here at Renison, Julia has demonstrated practical and effective leadership, profound commitment and dedication, a deeply collegial spirit, and exceptional dedication to student learning. As one letter of support notes, Julia “has created incalculable opportunities for multilingual students to succeed, changed perceptions and attitudes across Faculties, and transformed the shape of communication teaching and learning at the University of Waterloo.” Substantially raising the profile of the College, Julia’s work has impacted student experience, curriculum development, and inclusivity at Renison and across the University. It is for these reasons and many more that the Adjudication Committee chose Julia Williams as this year’s recipient of Renison’s Service Award.