Honours to 4 graduate supervisors

The second annual Award of Excellence in Graduate Supervision has honoured "four outstanding graduate supervisors who act as mentors, advisors, role models, humanists and strategists to their graduate students", says Ranjana Bird, the dean of graduate studies, announcing the award winners on behalf of the selection committee.

Last year her office, in collaboration with the Graduate Student Association, established the Award to recognize "exemplary faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in graduate student supervision. Graduate student supervision requires complex interaction between the graduate students and the graduate supervisor." The 2006 winners:

Donald D. Cowan, computer science: "Prof. Cowan is admired for his energy and enthusiasm for his graduate students, integrating them with his public service collaborations. He is consistently described as a professor who mentored his students and gave them control to make decisions about their programs, whose guidance was always well placed both academically and personally. One letter of nomination states, 'To highlight this nomination it should be noted that Dr. Donald D. Cowan has successfully supervised over one hundred graduate students,' an amazing record of graduate supervision. He was the founding chair of Computer Science and his research interests in software engineering have involved him in many of the software systems that have been created at the University of Waterloo during the last 30 years, and distributed in over 40 countries."

Rhona Hanning, health studies and gerontology: "Prof. Hanning is recognized for her outstanding service in addressing the needs of graduate students in Health Studies and Gerontology. Her contributions to nutrition-related research and graduate education have provided a unique resource to students. She is a valued contributor to other relevant areas of population health research and health promotion – notably in the areas of obesity, dyslipidemia, community-based nutritional education and dietary behaviours in children, as well as studying dietary-environmental interactions in Canadian Aboriginal people. One student states Prof. Hanning is a 'rare gem who is simultaneously an innovative thinker and a caring mentor'."

Xuemin (Sherman) Shen, electrical and computer engineering: "Prof. Shen’s nomination letters all comment on his commitment to graduate supervision. His weekly group meetings and availability was mentioned repeatedly in the numerous letters submitted to support his nomination. Students talked about his interest in their academic and career paths, guiding them with patience and clear direction. Prof. Shen has supervised a large number of students, is Associate Chair of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and has received the Outstanding Performance Award at Waterloo for outstanding contribution in teaching, scholarship and service in 2004, the Premier’s Research Excellence Award (PREA) and the Distinguished Performance Award from the Faculty of Engineering in 2002."

Jacob Sivak, optometry: "Prof. Sivak was the Director of Optometry for twelve years and the Dean of Graduate Studies for three years. He now holds the NSERC/Bausch & Lomb Industrial Research Chair. Despite his heavy administrative burden, his students all comment that he was always available to them. They spoke of his ability to foster independence among his students, and of his knowledge to treat students individually and match the student to a suitable research project. He visits their offices daily to find out how they are doing and to ‘cheer’ them up whenever they are having problems either academically or personally. He is a creative researcher who is well known internationally. Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Proctor Medal, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology are among many other academic awards and distinctions that Prof. Sivak has received."

Bird says the winners "were selected from 26 excellent applications submitted in 2005 and 2006. For 2007 we will begin a new applicant pool."

Back to top

Stratford open meeting draws 100

Stratford Festival patriarch William Needles was among those who attended a UW alumni reception at Stratford city hall on Thursday night, as prelude to an open meeting with UW dean of arts Ken Coates, pictured (left) with Needles.

A member of the original Festival acting company in 1953, and veteran of film and Broadway as well as other stages, William Needles is the son of Ira G. Needles, the first chair of UW's board of governors.

Thursday's gathering was held to talk about the proposals for developing a UW campus in Stratford. About 100 residents from the community attended the public information session, held in the city hall auditorium, following the reception. Both Coates and Stratford mayor Dan Mathieson were on hand to speak and to answer questions from the audience. Photo by Tobi Day-Hamilton.

Back to top

'If you give, you become rich'

from UW's 2005-06 donor report

“Thanks to the Chachra family, I now have something that I can look at and say, ‘I earned that. Someone has noticed the effort and dedication that I have put into my education.’” So says Harley Joseph Lanthier, first-year nanotechnology student and recipient of the 2005 Chachra Family Scholarship.

“Giving is our passion. We love to do it,” responds Fakir (Frank) Chachra, a retired Ontario Hydro engineer. “You don’t have to be a big corporation or a millionaire to give. Even ordinary people like us can do it.”

Saroj and Frank Chachra have four children who have completed their university education and have well-established careers. They strongly value higher education and are now helping other young people accomplish what their children have already achieved. The couple has set up the Chachra Family Scholarship in the Faculty of Engineering in honour of their son, Aneet Chachra, who received his BASc in 2000. They are also in the process of setting up two more scholarships, one in engineering and one in the School of Accountancy. All of the scholarships will be endowed and matched by government funds.

“If you give, you become rich,” says Chachra who has published a book about the benefits of giving. He also encourages people to donate in a presentation entitled “Giving is Golden.”

The Chachras have also established three scholarships at the University of Toronto where their three daughters studied. All six scholarships at both universities carry the family name because the couple hopes their children will see the wisdom of giving and continue what they have initiated.

Back to top

More matter on a mild Monday morn

A memo went out to departments the other day explaining the opportunity that's presented by the International Undergraduate Work-Study Program for the coming term. "You could employ an international student on a part-time basis for one-quarter the normal cost," writes Joanne Wade, director of student awards and financial aid. "International students are not eligible for provincial government financial aid (OSAP)," she explains, and "obtaining other financing or part-time employment that fits the student's schedule is very difficult." Hence the program, financed 75 per cent from "a central university fund", to subsidize up to 25 part-time jobs (up to 10 hours a week) in UW departments. "Jobs that tend to receive the most interest are those that create meaningful work experience for the students," Wade notes, inviting faculty or staff members to submit job proposals by December 19 for the January-to-April term. More information: ext. 3-3583.

Catherine Schryer, director of the teaching resource office, writes that "The Department of Physics and Astronomy has set aside Tuesday, December 12, for a retreat to reflect on teaching practices. The keynote speaker and workshop organizer for the event, Dr. Randall D. Knight (California Polytechnic State University), is well known as a textbook author and as an active contributor to the growing field of physics education research. His book Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teaching distils and applies the latest results in physics pedagogy and offers tested and effective methods for engaging students. Organized by Rohan Jayasundera and Richard Epp, this full-day event is supported by the Department of Physics and Astronomy and TRACE. Visitors are invited to Dr. Knight’s talk entitled 'Moving Physics Education Research from the Laboratory to the Classroom' to be held Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. in DC 1302."

Three seats are open on the UW staff association nominating committee, which recommends staff representatives on many university bodies (enquiries should go by e-mail to smarkan@uwaterloo.ca). • Recent advertising from Export Development Canada announced the winners of two dozen International Business Scholarships across the country, including UW's Lydia Li-erh Chang, an economics student. • As we enjoy a mild December, the UW weather station has issued its summary of November's atmosphere: "very warm . . . about 2.3 degrees warmer than average."

The third annual UW International Student Development Conference is to be held March 2 and 3, and organizers have been inviting "papers or posters" from students for presentation at the conference. "You may hand in papers that you have written for class," says Jane Lee, who's handling public relations for the event. "You will have a chance to present your paper and ideas to an inter-university crowd, with schools across Canada and overseas." There are prizes of $500 for the best undergraduate paper and $700 for the best graduate-level paper. We'll be hearing more about the UWIDSC over the next few weeks, but meanwhile, details are available online.

CAR

Back to top