Doug Kirton of Fine Arts, David John and Grit Liebscher of Germanic and Slavic Studies were among the attendees at the 2011-2012 Distinguished Awards & Honours reception held on Wednesday, November 14. Professor Kirton had received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal, and Professor John received the Canadian Association of University Teachers of German's Boeschenstein Medal.

The reception honoured more than 80 faculty members who had received an award or honour during the course of the 2011-2012 year and was held at the University Club. A full list of award recipients is available here.

Back to top

Women's Studies celebrates 40th anniversary

a media release from the Women's Studies department

It’s been 40 years since the University of Waterloo boasted its first six courses in Women’s Studies in 1972-73.  Today, the rich interdisciplinary tradition that launched the study of women’s and gender issues continues with the offering of a full complement of programs including Honours and Joint Honours degrees and a minor in Women’s Studies.

Despite its long-standing presence at UW, Women’s Studies is not living in the past. The program is looking to the future as it plans new and innovative ways to engage students and the wider university community.  “It’s an exciting time for Women’s Studies,” says professor Tracy Penny Light, the new director of the program.  “The study of gender relations is an important aspect in any university degree and what we’re really good at is providing opportunities to engage with issues that are highly relevant in today’s society, both locally and globally,” she notes.  “Women’s Studies is working to bring together researchers and students to develop leadership capabilities that will allow them to take responsibility for promoting social justice and change in our world.”

The first talk in this year's speaker series begins today at 3:00 p.m. when Professor Corey Johnson of the University of Georgia will discuss "Feminist Masculinities: Activist Inquiries into Leisure, Gender and Sexual Identity.”

Look for other events this year including a dinner for the university community to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2013.

Back to top

Alumni magazine out this week

The latest issue of Waterloo magazine is making its way to mailboxes and various locations around campus this week.

Features include an in-depth overview of the Mike & Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre, a look at the evolution of co-operative education at the university, and a profile of the new School of Public Health and Health Systems.

The magazine is also available online.

Waterloo magazine has a circulation of 130,000 and is distributed worldwide.

Back to top

Engineering Awards

The 2012 Waterloo Engineering Awards dinner was held on Thursday, November 22. According to a memo from Dean of Engineering Pearl Sullivan, more than 2,500 students received awards this year for everything from top marks to extracurricular activities such as leadership, community engagement, and involvement in athletics.

A number of awards were distributed at the event, including:

The Friend of the Faculty Award was presented to Maplesoft, a company established in 1988 as a spin-off, whose core intellectual property was developed from a University of Waterloo research project in symbolic computing.

The Team Alumni Achievement medal was awarded to PLANT Architect, Inc. The firm was launched in 1997 by Lisa Rapoport, Chris Pommer, and Mary Tremain, all graduates of the university's bachelor of environmental studies program and the School of Architecture.

The Young Alumni Achievement Medal was received by Gholamreza Chaji, (PhD '08), recognized as "a leader and innovator in the flat panel display industry" and president and CTO of IGNIS Innovation, a local company founded through technology invented at the university.

Two Alumni Achievement Medals for Professional Achievement were also handed out:

Ilia Kaufman (MASc '69; PhD '71) was recognized for founding his own software consulting firm Kaufman Consulting Services Ltd., which has "become a world leader in both the art and science of computational linguistics."

Michael D. Watkins (BASc '80), was recognized for his work as a best-selling author on leadership and talent management, whose book, "The First 90 Days, Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at all Levels" was named one of the 100 best business books of all time."

"I wish all our award winners the very best and i look forward to their future accomplishments!" wrote Sullivan in the memo, which was distributed to Engineering faculty and staff on Friday.

Back to top

New Media Services hosting open house

New Media Services is hosting an open house for its newly-renovated Digital Print Production facility in Room 159 of the General Services Complex on Tuesday, November 27 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The open house includes a guided tour of the new facility, which offers several core services including custom publishing, digital scanning and archiving, high volume printing, and other print and digital media services. The digital print production team (pictured above) also invites attendees to share in a coffee and cookie, and enter into a draw for a chance to win an iPad Mini.

Back to top