FRSC honour for two UW researchers

A prominent UW professor and another professor who recently left Waterloo for the University of Minnesota have been elected Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, also known as “the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada”.

They’re among 72 new Fellows (as well as two “Specially Elected Fellows” for the venerable society this year. Says a news release: “In keeping with the motto of the Society, ‘Different paths, one vision’, the newly elected Fellows have diverse backgrounds and disciplines but they have been elected to the Academies of RSC by their peers in recognition of outstanding scholarly, scientific and artistic achievement.”

The two new appointees make a total of 65 Waterloo faculty over the years who have been named to Canada’s highest academic honour. Founded in 1882, RSC “is Canada’s senior and most prestigious scholarly organization,” the release explains.

This year’s new Fellows will be inducted at a ceremony to be held November 15 in Ottawa.

Among the new Fellows is Raymond Laflamme (above), professor of physics and director of UW’s ground-breaking Institute for Quantum Computing. Says the Royal Society’s citation: “Raymond Laflamme has solved both practical and theoretical problems of fundamental importance to quantum information processing, and has been a leader in bringing Canada to international prominence in this field. He elucidated theoretical approaches to quantum error correction, which set the benchmark in this field, and gave the first experimental demonstrations of these techniques.”

The other newly honoured researcher is biologist Robert Hecky (left), who served at UW from 1999 until his recent move to the University of Minnesota at Duluth. He still holds a part-time "research professor" position at UW. Says the Royal Society citation: “Robert Hecky is world-renowned for his work on African great lakes and northern reservoirs. For over thirty years he has led international groups investigating the hydrology, chemistry, biology and paleoecology of these ecosystems. His research has led to the development of an excellent research laboratory in Uganda, and to the understanding of how climate, land-use and air quality have affected the great lakes of east Africa.”

The release from Ottawa notes that “While continuing to pursue its original mandate to promote excellence in research and learning, RSC is also recognizing its unique opportunity to bridge Canada’s brightest minds with Canadian youth nationwide.”

Says Yvan Guindon, President of the Society: “It is essential for RSC to continually evaluate its relevance and its role in today’s world. RSC is committing to engage our leading scholars in an increasing number of activities and programs designed to inspire students to pursue their academic dreams and to support them in so doing.” Its activities included sponsorship of a conference on energy issues held last fall at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo.

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Johnston speaks at United Way launch

The annual United Way campaign across Kitchener-Waterloo will be launched today, seeking to raise more than $5 million to support agencies that work with neighbourhoods, families and individuals, especially children.

This year UW is hosting the campaign launch, with remarks and a by-invitation luncheon starting at 11:45 in the north campus Accelerator Centre. Speakers will include United Way director Jan Varner and campaign chair Victor Zamin of RBC Royal Bank, as well as Tim Jackson of local venture firm TechCapital Partners, who is a member of UW’s board of governors.

Johnston is expected to talk about the value of philanthropy, and to recall the 2005 encounter at UW between Bill Gates of Microsoft and Mike Lazaridis of Research In Motion, who found an immediate common interest in the way they use their money. “A commitment to giving,” Johnston will say, “can unite very different people with different perspectives.”

He’ll also tell the audience that the United Way and UW “already share many of the same goals. We want to see young people reach and exceed their potential. We want to see inclusive, safe neighbourhoods with strong families who are striving.”

Among the agencies who will use the money that the United Way campaign raises are Big Brothers and Big Sisters; Community Care Concepts of Woolwich, Wellesley and Wilmot; Focus for Ethnic Women; K-W Access-Ability; Shalom Counselling Services; the Working Centre; and the YMCA and YWCA.

The United Way web site says the campaign “responds to the realities of a changing world through impact upon individual lives, investing time and money in a social support network of programs that together help individuals improving their quality of life,” as well as providing “leadership and support with and to the non-profit human services sector” and joining in “multi-stakeholder community collaborations to create long-term solutions to social issues”.

Five priorities are listed: “All Children and Youth reach their Potential; All Families are Strong; All Neighbourhoods are Inclusive and Thriving; All Newcomers feel Welcomed and Supported; All People are Economically Secure.”

Organizers give some examples of how a $100 gift to the United Way can help towards those goals. That much money could, for example, provide $100 provides a comfort kit and one night’s accommodation for a victim of a fire, through the Canadian Red Cross; education to 60 grade 5 students on how to prevent bullying in their schools, through the John Howard Society; eight children’s books that have a high interest story line with low vocabulary to enable struggling readers to be successful, through the Learning Disabilities Association of Kitchener-Waterloo; or fuel to pick up five trailer-loads of corporate food donations to help feed families in Waterloo Region, through the Food Bank.

Much of the money for such purposes is raised in United Way workplace campaigns, including UW’s own campaign, which will take place in October. “Last year we raised over $189,000,” writes co-op student Joanna Niezen from the on-campus United Way office in the Davis Centre. That obviously leaves room for staff, faculty and retirees — and some students who also get involved — to soar way past this year’s official goal of $175,000.

Last year’s co-chairs of the UW campaign are returning for this year: faculty member Richard Wells of the kinesiology department and Pat Cunningham, who has retired from her job in the math faculty since this time last year but is sticking around to represent retirees in the campaign. The two will be joined by Donna Sutherland of the school of accounting and finance as the staff co-chair for 2008.

Organizers have announced a volunteer training and appreciation lunch on Thursday, September 25, in the Laurel Room. “Speakers from United Way agencies will attend,” says Niezen, “and share the story of how United Way contributions help their work.”

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And a few other notes today

UW hasn’t had an official head of “government relations” in some time, but the job is open now, this week’s Positions Available listing reveals. Under the title “Senior Director, Government Relations and Strategic Initiatives,” it’ll report to the vice-president (external relations) and be rated moderately high in UW’s staff salary structure as a USG 14. Some of the qualifications, according to the human resources web site: “Extensive experience and proven leadership in successful senior level government relations and complex strategic initiative strategy development and implementation. Strong knowledge of local, provincial and national politics with an awareness of the international context. Excellent analytical, research and organizational skills. Strong ability to communicate, create trust and network to create and nurture key relationships with high-profile government, community and business leaders and university administration. Proven ability to work collaboratively with internal and external partners to advance common goals.”

It’s not only students who sometimes find large classes difficult, and that’s why UW’s Centre for Teaching Excellence is holding a workshop next week on “Using UW-ACE to Promote a Sense of Community in your Large Class”. Facilitated by CTE staffers Jane Holbrook and Katherine Lithgow, it’s scheduled for Friday, September 19, at 10:30 a.m. (that’s a change from an afternoon time that was announced earlier) and will be held in the Flex Lab in the Dana Porter Library. Holbrook writes: “The social aspect of learning (student-to-student interactions and student-to-instructor/TA interactions) has long been accepted as a key component to effective learning. However, it can be challenging to create a sense of community and social belonging in a large class, and to create opportunities for students to exchange ideas and learn from each other. In this hands-on workshop we will introduce you to the communication mechanisms available in UW-ACE, (announcements, discussion boards, email and wikis) and to some activities that can increase meaningful learning interactions between students in large classes using the online environment.” There’s more information online.

“Just wanted to let you know of a great promotion we are running this September,” writes Heather Kelly of food services, calling it an “Amazing Race style” event. “The object of the promotion is to pick up a passport at participating outlets and visit each of the listed outlets to collect a stamp. Completed passports can be entered to win an Eco Bike! Too much fun and a great alternative mode of transportation that's eco-friendly. Can you believe that this cool bike requires no licence or insurance? It goes by the same rules of the road as a bicycle.”

Counselling services is moving into the second year of offering its “QPR for Suicide Prevention” program, which is, a memo notes, “designed to help you help someone who may be considering suicide. QPR consists of three life-saving skills: how to Question a person about suicide, Persuade the person to get help, and Refer the person to the appropriate resource.” The 90-minute training session will be offered September 26, October 27 and November 21, all at 11:30 a.m. in Math and Computer room 4068; anybody interested can call ext. 33528 or e-mail lnesbitt@uwaterloo.ca to register. Those are also the ways to reach Lorraine Nesbitt in counselling to arrange a group presentation (suitable for 15 to 25 people) at a convenient time and date.

CAR

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