David and Sharon Johnston name new student award for royal visitors

Waterloo Media Relations news release

[Escorted by Mounties, Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge share a carriage with the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Sharon Johnston in Ottawa during the royal newlyweds' recent Canadian tour]

A new student award, called Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, has been established at the University of Waterloo.

The award is made possible through the generosity of the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, and Mrs. Sharon Johnston, who gave a special gift to the University of Waterloo in order to honour the marriage of Their Royal Highnesses.

Their Excellencies decided to designate their personal contribution to the University of Waterloo to create The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, because of their strong belief that education provides the knowledge and tools for students to set their own objectives in reaching their full potential.

"This is a grand honour for the University of Waterloo to have a student award named after Their Royal Highnesses," said Feridun Hamdullahpur, president of the University of Waterloo. "The recipient will be an academically gifted student who possesses a strong record in volunteering and leadership, key aspects highly valued and extensively nurtured by His Excellency while he was president of Waterloo."

The award is one of many new scholarships and fundraising initiatives to support the education of students at the University of Waterloo. During the successful Campaign Waterloo, led by His Excellency in his former role as president of the University of Waterloo, a total of 529 new bursary and scholarship awards were established.

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award will be administered by the University of Waterloo and offered on a one-time basis, during the 2011-2012 academic year. Valued at $5,000, it will be awarded to financially support a student who has volunteer and/or leadership experience and is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

Preference will be given to a student who is pursuing studies related to the British Monarchy or to Canadian Aboriginal peoples, as well as to a student who has received the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

For more information about the criteria and application deadlines for Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Award, go to http://grad.uwaterloo.ca/forms/Scholarships/ Duke_and_Duchess_of_Cambridge_application.pdf.

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New faces on the Board of Governors

There will be quite a few new faces at the university’s Board of Governors meetings in the coming year. Among them are these Community-at-Large members:

Murray Gamble (left), president of the C3 Group of Companies, “a multi-discipline engineering, contracting and applied technology organization headquartered in Waterloo Region,” says a bio from the Secretariat. Among other posts, he is past chairman of the Innovators Alliance, serves on the advisory board of Waterloo Engineering’s Centre for Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology, has served as an advisor to the Queen’s School of Business’s Centre for Enterprise Development, and has been a technical advisor to the Ontario Centres of Excellence.

Karen Maidment (right), who recently retired as chief financial and administrative officer of the BMO Financial Group. She previously filled a leading position in Waterloo-based Clarica (formerly Mutual Life). An active volunteer, she has been president of the Canadian Federation of University Women and of the Waterloo-Wellington Chartered Accountants Association, and served on the board of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce. Among other honours, she has been named Canada’s CFO of the Year, and has been on the Financial Post’s “Power 50” list of top Canadian business women for several years.

Michael Stork (left), whose resumé includes leading positions with F.J. Stork Holdings, Betacom Corporation, Unitron Hearing Canada, and Dspfactory Limited. As a volunteer with and donor to the University of Waterloo, he is a member of the 1957 Society, founding patron and director of the Accelerator Centre, executive member of the Entrepreneurship Council, and a member of the Chancellor’s Circle.

William Watson (right), a partner in the Toronto-based international law firm Baker & McKenzie LLP, where he specializes in administrative, labour and employment law. In the 1990s, he negotiated the compensation package for HIV-tainted blood product recipients, as the inter-provincial and territorial negotiator. Beyond the practice of law, for decades he has been an enthusiastic amateur softball player, and has been manager, owner, and coach of the St. Paul’s United College alumni slow pitch team. He is also a member of the Waterloo Alumni Council.

Many well-known faces will also appear as new board members, including some who are “new” because they have been re-appointed or re-elected. They are:

• Lieutenant Governor in Council: David McKay, an executive with the Royal Bank of Canada (reappointed)
• Staff: Mark Walker
• Faculty: Sheila Ager, classical studies (re-elected); Tara Collington, French studies; Diana Denton, communication, leadership & social innovation (re-elected); Geoffrey Hayes, history; and Michele Mosca, combinatorics & optimization, Institute for Quantum Computing
• Undergraduate students: Jonathan Cluett, Matthew Colphon, and Mariam Gill
• Graduate students: Michael Makahnouk and Hassan Nasir (re-elected)

CPA staff

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