Kevin Lynch is the new Board chair

with material from a media relations news release

The Honourable Kevin G. Lynch (right) has been appointed as chair of the University of Waterloo Board of Governors.

A native of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia, Kevin Lynch holds a BA (Mount Allison University), a MA (University of Manchester) and a PhD (McMaster University), all in economics. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2012, and a Member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada in 2009 as well as being a recipient of honorary doctorates from seven Canadian universities. His distinguished career with the Government of Canada culminated in the role of Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet, and Head of the Public Service of Canada prior to his retirement in 2009; he also served as Deputy Minister of Finance, Deputy Minister of Industry and Executive Director for Canada at the International Monetary Fund.

"Waterloo is fortunate to benefit from Kevin Lynch's depth of experience and knowledge," said Feridun Hamdullahpur. "He brings to the role of chair his commitment to strengthening Waterloo’s international impact and world-leading expertise in education and innovation."

Dr. Lynch is currently vice-chair of BMO Financial Group. He also holds positions on the boards of numerous organizations in the fields of health, research, and higher education, including the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation, the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, the Gairdner Foundation, the Ditchley Foundation, the Accounting Standards Oversight Council of Canada, the Learning Partnership, the Samara Foundation and the Shannon School of Business. He assumes his role as chair of the University of Waterloo board of governors following a term as vice-chair.

A strong advocate of excellence in higher education, Dr. Lynch was involved in the establishment of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canada Research Chairs, Genome Canada, the Vanier Scholarships and other aspects of federal investment in university research capacity. He brings to the role of chair his commitment to strengthening Waterloo’s international impact and world-leading expertise in education and innovation.

"The University of Waterloo is a great Canadian university with the potential to be a world leader in driving innovation through our students, our research and our collaborations," said Lynch. "It is a real honour and privilege to chair the Board of Governors, which is very dedicated to Waterloo and all it stands for, and have the wonderful opportunity to work with Feridun and his team, the excellent faculty, the committed staff, the outstanding students and our alumni."

The chair of the Board of Governors has the responsibility of providing effective leadership and fulfills this responsibility through a number of means, including by ensuring the board can function independently of management, establishing procedures to govern the board's work, serving as advisor to the president, and ensuring appropriate committee structures and membership.

Lynch succeeds Robert Harding, whose term of office ends April 30, 2012.

Photograph courtesy of BMO Financial Group.

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St. Jerome's Relay for Life raises $31,000

The sixth annual Relay for Life at St. Jerome's University took place on Friday, March 30, raising a grand total of $31,232.29, well above last year's total of $19,577.33. The Relay for Life "is a non-competitive, 12 hour overnight event that celebrates cancer survivors and pays tribute to the loved ones we have all lost to the battle with cancer," wrote residence manager Ian Sherman and student life co-ordinator Marissa Taggart in a memo distributed earlier in the month. "Relay is a night of fundraising, friendship, awareness, and fun, designed to do its part to beat cancer. All pledges and proceeds go directly to the Canadian Cancer Society."

At 7:00 p.m. on the night of March 30, 217 registered participants, grouped in more than 30 teams, gathered for opening ceremonies and the inspiring Survivors Walk (pictured above). Throughout the evening, numerous fundraising activities took place, including the Jail n’ Bail, where two staff members had to fundraise their way out of cages, the leg waxing of several male residence dons at $5 per strip, and hair cutting and head shaving to provide hair for wigs.

Event Chair Kristina Bartold promised to shave her head if the milestone of $30,000 was reached, and in the words of Sherman and Taggart, “you can now see Kristina, bringing laughter and pride through our halls… with significantly less hair.”

“This ground-breaking success is a true testament to the power of community at St. Jerome’s University,” wrote Sherman and Taggart. “Thank you to all who made pledges, purchased luminaries, and supported the event in all the ways you did.”

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Young scientists compete today

by Sharon McFarlane, interim communications officer, Faculty of Science

More than 200 students from across Waterloo Region will once again test their scientific knowledge on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 in an annual science competition at the University of Waterloo.

The All Science Challenge features a stimulating question- and- answer period and fun hands-on design activities that inspire Grades 6, 7 and 8 students to acquire science knowledge beyond their existing curriculum. Designed by post-secondary science students, the All Science Challenge is a unique, team-based event that is part of the nationwide Let’s Talk Science Outreach program.

“This day-long enrichment competition helps kids get excited about science,” said event co-ordinator Erin Bresser. “We are looking forward to welcoming 50 teams of young science enthusiasts to our campus this year.”

Following the opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. in Math 3, the teams will participate in a quiz show style question-and-answer period with university professors, post-doctoral fellows, staff, and current university students serving as judges to gauge the correctness of their answers.

Students will test their knowledge in a range of disciplines, such as earth sciences, biology, chemistry and physics.

During the afternoon session, teams will compete in a design activity during which they are challenged to build a specific object using only the immediate materials supplied to them. In the picture above, last year’s challenge had students scrambling to make the longest and sturdiest bridge out of sticky-notes. In past design challenges, students have constructed objects such as a rudimentary Morse code machine with only a nail, copper wire, paper clips and battery or in the case of the picture of scientists above, to make the longest and sturdiest bridge out of sticky-notes. Students will be judged on their problem-solving skills, teamwork and their design demonstration.

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Fee deadline looms and other notes

Today is the deadline to become, as they say, "Fees Arranged," with correct and complete 2012 Promissory Notes or full payments submitted to Student Accounts, Room NH1110. Becoming "Fees Arranged" is a necessary prerequisite for access to LEARN on May 1. For more information contact Student Accounts at studentaccounts@ uwaterloo.ca or at extension 38466.

Website maintenance originally scheduled for April 1 has been rescheduled to take place this coming Sunday, April 29. The university's homepage and other websites hosted on info.uwaterloo.ca will be offline from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. The sites affected include academic support departments that are not in the WCMS. A splash page will be displayed to website visitors during the outage. Faculty sites and sites now in the WCMS will not be affected. Please contact Shawn Winnington-Ball of Information Systems and Technology (IST) with any questions or concerns at swball@ uwaterloo.ca.

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