Convocation honours are announced

Three retired faculty members will be awarded the title of professor emeritus or emerita at UW’s fall convocation on October 24, it was announced following Monday’s meeting of the university senate. One of senate’s duties is to approve convocation awards.

They are Alison Pedlar, retired from the recreation and leisure studies department; Mariela Gutiérrez, of Spanish and Latin American studies; and Nicholas Kouwen, of civil and environmental engineering.

Judy McCrae, the university's first female director of athletics, will be recognized as an honorary member of the university, as will Paul Schellenberg, a retired professor of combinatorics and optimization and former acting dean of mathematics.

Prominent civil rights lawyer Alan Borovoy is among five people receiving honorary doctorates during the morning and afternoon ceremonies on the 24th.

Borovoy, widely considered one of Canada's leading advocates for civil liberties and human rights, will receive a Doctor of Laws degree and will address graduating students in the faculties of applied health sciences and arts. That ceremony begins at 10 a.m. in the Physical Activities Complex.

As general counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Borovoy designed court challenges and public campaigns to safeguard rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, equality rights and procedural fairness. He retired from the association last April, after 41 years of service.

At the same ceremony, French academic Claude Gharib, an international expert on space travel and its impact on the human body, will receive a doctor of science degree. A professor emeritus at Université Claude Bernard Lyon I in France, Gharib provided support over the years in establishing a top quality space physiology program at Waterloo.

At the 2 p.m. ceremony, Kenneth Ogilvie, former executive director of Pollution Probe, will receive a Doctor of Environmental Studies degree. Under his leadership, Pollution Probe played a key role in bringing mandatory vehicle emissions testing to Ontario and persuading the federal government to sharply cut sulphur content in gasoline. Ogilvie will address graduating students from the faculties of engineering, environment, mathematics and science.

Also at that ceremony, influential cryptographer Adi Shamir will receive a Doctor of Mathematics degree. Shamir, a professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, was one of three inventors of the essential technologies underlying communications security, known as the RSA public key encryption and digital signature schemes.

And international engineer Peter Watson will receive a Doctor of Engineering degree. Watson, a Waterloo alumnus, is well-known for his innovative research on the fatigue behaviour of metals. Until 2005, he served as chair and chief executive officer of AEA Technology, Britain's largest science and engineering company.

McCrae, Gutiérrez and Pedlar will receive their UW honours at the morning ceremony, and Schellenberg and Kouwen at the afternoon ceremony.

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What was said at the senate meeting

Remarks heard at Monday afternoon’s meeting of the UW senate the university’s senior academic governing body:

“He is here with that elegant beard.” (President David Johnston, introducing Leo Rothenburg in the latter’s new role as associate vice-president, international, and noting a change in his facial appearance since his return from getting the United Arab Emirates campus launched.)

“The dust really isn’t settling yet, but basically it’s a good news story.” (Bob Truman, director of institutional analysis and planning, reporting that preliminary figures show first-year enrolment a little above projection in most categories.)

“The student-faculty ratio is pushing 30 in this institution, and I don’t see this as a healthy thing.” (Mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor Metin Renksizbulut, disagreeing that an enrolment increase is automatically good news.)

“There will be no attempt to create highly specialized Islamicists.” (Associate vice-president, academic, Geoff McBoyle, presenting a proposal to introduce a certificate, diploma and minor in “Studies in Islam” — but not a major — at Renison University College.)

“We are sending a very earnest plea to alumni to do their very best to find co-op opportunities for our students, and to speak to their friends and colleagues.” (Johnston, reporting that just under 95 per cent of co-op students have jobs this term and that things will be difficult again for the winter.)

“That may or may not come back to us.” (Johnston again, announcing that the faculty relations committee has been asked to look at the controversial issue of a restriction on very small classes, and report to senate only if it can’t settle the disagreements.)

“It’s just impressive.” (Bruce Mitchell, associate provost who served as interim provost during the summer, on the amount of work he saw being done by the faculty, staff and student associations.)

“It was the right decision.” (Feridun Hamdullahpur, provost as of September 1, on his choice to leave Carleton University for Waterloo.)

“We will soon have to look at a parking garage. These are expensive things — we have actually tried to postpone that as long as we can.” (Johnston, noting that a section of parking lot B is being lost to the construction of Engineering 6.)

“I am thoroughly impressed with the creativity and imagination of our students.” (Vice-president, external relations, Meg Beckel, talking about hundreds of comments, parodies and reworkings of the university’s proposed logo; she added that alumni, “who are really passionate about the institution”, are also being heard from.)

“I have four announcements that I would love to make, but the results are embargoed by the funding agencies.” (George Dixon, vice-president, university research, whose report is usually a good deal more detailed.)

“I’m afraid the report from St. Jerome’s doesn’t adequately reflect the situation at St. Jerome’s.” (St. Jerome’s University English professor Tristanne Connolly, who said the institution’s Sixth Decade progress report papers over some problems under such headings as “administrative excellence” and “community engagement”.)

“All students will be looked after.” (Dean of engineering Adel Sedra, assuring the senate that students part way through a degree in chemical engineering won’t be derailed by a program change that will give them one more compulsory course and one less technical elective.)

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UW president David Johnston chatted with prime minister Stephen Harper on Monday during a reception at a new Linamar Corporation research and development facility in Guelph. The event celebrated a major federal grant to Linamar, an auto parts maker, for its “Green & Fuel Efficient Powertrain Project”. Automotive research has been identified by UW officials as one of the university's key priority areas.

Other notes, now that we're in autumn

A flyer on bright orange paper (and it isn’t even Hallowe’en yet) announces a range of workshops that will be offered this term by UW’s counselling services. Topics include study skills, stress management, “managing anxiety and panic”, procrastination (or rather, how to avoid it), and “re-claiming your self”. There’s also a series of writing skills workshops on everything from “articles, prepositions and pronouns” to academic research. The writing workshops are one-shot events, but most of the others are in series of three, four or more weekly sessions; details are online (but only in black and white, no orange). “Material fees apply for most workshops,” the flyer notes. “If cost is a concern please let us know when you register.”

“Everyone is welcome to join us in celebration of the Corn Moon,” says an invitation to UW’s 6th Annual Powwow, being held Saturday — the day of Homecoming — from noon to 5:00 at St. Paul's University College. Admission is $5 (“UW, WLU and Conestoga College students show your student card and get in with a food bank donation”). It promises to be “a fun-filled family event featuring traditional Native drummers, singers, and dancers as well as traditional food and craft vendors.” Emerance Baker, UW's Aboriginal Services coordinator, explains that the Powwow theme, "Honouring Our Future Leaders", celebrates “the endurance, courage and strength of all Aboriginal students and youth”. "It is a celebration that brings together many different nations in celebration of Aboriginal relationships and way of life." says local Elder Jean Becker. The event is designed to help create a sense of community for Aboriginal students and people in the community and welcomes new and returning students back to UW. It also promotes cultural awareness for non-native participants. "We walk a delicate balance between retaining our traditional cultural values and practices, and living in a modern society," Becker said. "It's something we have to negotiate every day. The powwow can bridge between these two worlds."

A posthumous award will be presented next month to Thomas Seebohm, a faculty member in UW’s school of architecture who died last year. The Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) has named Seebohm to receive the 2009 ACADIA Society Award for “extraordinary contributions and service”. He was not only a long-time colleague but “founder of the school's computing enterprise”, says Rick Haldenby, director of the architecture school: “Inaugurated in 1998, the Award program represents recognition, by colleagues worldwide, of consistent contributions and impact on the field of architectural computing. This year, one award was given in each of four categories (Innovative Research, Teaching Excellence, Emerging Digital Practice, and an ACADIA Society Award).” The presentation will come at the ACADIA conference in Chicago in late October.

Here’s some clarification to a paragraph that appeared in the Daily Bulletin last Friday, as part of a profile of a co-op student whose UW career had begun with a President’s Scholarship that enticed him to Waterloo. The article called it “an award for first-year students funded by staff and faculty donations”. In fact, Ryan Jacobs of UW’s development office says the scholarships are mostly funded out of the university’s operating budget, although they’re a major target for the Keystone Campaign and for other donations. “Since May 2009,” says Jacobs, “faculty, staff, retirees and alumni have donated $138,500 which will flow through the President’s Scholarship program into the hands of future first-year students . . . it has been identified as the university’s main fund-raising priority for 2009-10.” Why? “Not only are President’s Scholarships an important part of the university’s guarantee to provide financial assistance for all eligible full-time undergraduate students, they also recognize and reward outstanding ability. As such, they strengthen Waterloo’s capacity to attract the most promising students, regardless of their level of financial need. In 2008-09, more than 60% of incoming students — approximately 3,400 — benefited from the President’s Scholarship program.”

CAR

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