University Of Waterloo
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The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
with a main campus in
Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo (formerly Waterloo County). Waterloo is situated about west-southwest of Toronto. Due to the close proximity of the ci ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates three
satellite campus A satellite campus or branch campus or regional campus is a campus of a university or college that is physically at a distance from the original university or college area. This branch campus may be located in a different city, state, or countr ...
es and four affiliated
university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
s. The university offers academic programs administered by six faculties and thirteen faculty-based schools. Waterloo operates the largest post-secondary
co-operative education Cooperative education (or co-operative education) is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for struct ...
program in the world, with over 20,000 undergraduate students enrolled in the university's co-op program. Waterloo is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada. The institution originates from the Waterloo College Associate Faculties, established on 4 April 1956; a semi-autonomous entity of
Waterloo College Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...
, which was an affiliate of the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
. This entity formally separated from Waterloo College and was incorporated as a university with the passage of the ''University of Waterloo Act'' by the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...
in 1959. It was established to fill the need to train engineers and technicians for Canada's growing postwar economy. It grew substantially over the next decade, adding a faculty of arts in 1960, and the College of Optometry of Ontario (now the School of Optometry and Vision Science), which moved from
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
in 1967. The university is a co-educational institution, with approximately 36,000 undergraduate and 6,200 postgraduate students enrolled there in 2020. Alumni and former students of the university can be found across Canada and in over 150 countries; with a number of award winners, government officials, and business leaders having been associated with Waterloo. Waterloo's varsity teams, known as the
Waterloo Warriors The Waterloo Warriors are the athletic teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in football, hockey, rugby, golf and basketball among others, and the Warrior ...
, compete in the
Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...
conference of the
U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...
.


History


Twentieth century

The University of Waterloo traces its origins to Waterloo College (present-day
Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...
), the academic outgrowth of Waterloo Lutheran Seminary, which was affiliated with the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
since 1925. When
Gerald Hagey Joseph Gerald Hagey (September 28, 1904 – October 26, 1988) was a Canadian businessman, academic, and a founder and first president of the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. Biography Hagey was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario ...
assumed the presidency of Waterloo College in 1953, he made it his priority to procure the funds necessary to expand the institution. While the main source of income for higher education in Ontario at the time was the provincial government, the Ontario government made it clear it would not contribute to denominational colleges and universities. Hagey soon became aware of the steps undertaken by
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
to make itself eligible for some provincial funding by establishing Hamilton College as a separate, non-denominational college affiliated with the university. Following that method, Waterloo College established the Waterloo College Associate Faculties on 4 April 1956, as a non-denominational board affiliated with the college. The academic structure of the Associated Faculties was originally focused on co-operative education in the applied sciences—largely built around the proposals of
Ira Needles Ira George Needles (1893–January 6, 1986) was the second chancellor of the University of Waterloo, holding the position from 1966 to 1975. Personal life Needles was born in Mount Vernon, Iowa, in 1893. He received his undergraduate degree at ...
. Needles proposed a different approach towards education, including both studies in the classroom and training in industry that would eventually become the basis of the university's co-operative education program. While the plan was initially opposed by the
Engineering Institute of Canada The Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC) (French: l'Institut canadien des ingénieurs; ICI) is a federation of fourteen engineering societies based in Canada, covering a broad range of engineering branches, and with a history going back to 1887. F ...
and other Canadian universities, notably the University of Western Ontario, the Associated Faculties admitted its first students in July 1957. On 25 January 1958, the Associated Faculties announced the purchase of over of land west of Waterloo College. By the end of the same year, the Associated Faculties opened its first building on the site, the Chemical Engineering Building. In 1959, the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...
passed an act which formally split the Associated Faculties from Waterloo College, and re-established it as the University of Waterloo. The governance was modeled on the University of Toronto Act of 1906, which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate, responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to act as the institution's chief executive officer and act as a liaison between the two groups. The legislative act was the result of a great deal of negotiation between Waterloo College, Waterloo College Associated Faculties, and St. Jerome's College, another denominational college in the City of Waterloo. While the agreements sought to safeguard the two denominational colleges, they also aimed at federating them with the newly established University of Waterloo. Due to disagreements with Waterloo College, the college was not formally federated with the new university. The dispute centred on a controversially worded section of the ''University of Waterloo Act, 1959'', in which the college interpreted certain sections as a guarantee it would become the Faculty of Art for the new university. This was something the Associated Faculties were not prepared to accept. As a result of the controversy, Waterloo College's entire Department of Mathematics broke from the college to join the newly established University of Waterloo, later joined by professors from the Economic, German, Modern Languages, and Russian departments. Despite this controversy, until 1960 Hagey hoped for a last-minute compromise between Waterloo College and the university. Ultimately, however, the university created its own Faculty of Arts in 1960. It later established the first Faculty of Mathematics in North America on 1 January 1967. In 1967, the world's first department of kinesiology was created. The present legislative act which defines how the university should be governed, the ''University of Waterloo Act, 1972'' was passed on 10 May 1972. A coat of arms has been in use by the university since 1961. The coat of arms was officially registered with the
Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry in that country, issuing new grant ...
in 1987 and with the
Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA; french: Autorité héraldique du Canada) is part of the Canadian honours system under the Canadian monarch, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General of Canada. The authority is responsible for t ...
in 2001. In February 1995, the former president of the university, James Downey, signed the Tri-University Group (TUG) agreement between Wilfrid Laurier University, and the
University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...
. Signed in a period of fiscal constraint, and when ageing library systems required replacing, the TUG agreement sought to integrate the library collections and services of the three universities.


Twenty-first century

In 2001, the university announced it would develop the Waterloo
Research Research is "creativity, creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular att ...
and
Technology Park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park”, "technopark", “technopole", or a "science and technology park" (STP)) is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters the growt ...
in the north campus. The park was planned to house many of the high-tech industries in the area, and is supported by the university, the
Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...
, the provincial and federal governments, and
Canada's Technology Triangle Canada's Technology Triangle (CTT) was a promotional organization that represented Waterloo Region, which includes the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo and the townships of North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich. The organizatio ...
. The aim was to provide businesses with access to the university's faculty, co-operative education students, and alumni, as well as the university's infrastructure and resources. Groundbreaking was on 25 June 2002, with the first completed building, the Sybase campus building, opening on 26 November 2004. In 2010, the Waterloo Research and Tech Park was renamed as the
David Johnston Research and Technology Park David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, after
David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...
, the 28th
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...
and former president of the university. From 2009 to 2012, the university managed four undergraduate programs in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. The university worked in partnership with the
Higher Colleges of Technology The Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT; ar, ) was established in 1988 and is the largest applied, higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). During the 2019–2020 academic year, there were 14,246 female and 6,744 male stu ...
, the largest post-secondary institution in the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...
. Discussions regarding the partnership emerged in 2004, and the Dubai campus was officially opened in September 2009. Through the partnership, the university offered undergraduate degrees in
chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...
,
civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...
, financial analysis and risk management, and
information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...
management. The programs offered in Dubai took place in facilities provided by the Higher Colleges of Technology. On 30 October 2012, the university's Board of Governors decided to close the university's extension in Dubai.


Campus

The university's main campus lies within the city of Waterloo, Ontario. It sits on the traditional territory of the
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, Anishnaabeg, and
Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...
peoples that is part of the Haldimand Tract, land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. It is bordered by Waterloo Park to the south, Wilfrid Laurier University to the southeast, residential neighbourhoods to the northeast, east and west, and the Laurel Creek Conservation Area to the northwest. Three numbered roads also intersect the main campus: University Avenue West, Columbia Street West, and Westmount Road North. While the main campus is , the majority of the teaching facilities are centred on a ring road in its southern portion. The oldest building on campus is the Graduate House, originally a farmhouse dating back to the 19th century. The oldest building which was erected for the university is the Douglas Wright Engineering Building, which was erected in 1958. A large majority of the university's buildings, and its ring road, were constructed during the 1960s. The university's main campus is divided into three major areas: South Campus, North Campus and Northwest Campus. South Campus is the academic core of the university, while North Campus holds the Research and Technology Park. Northwest Campus is the least developed area of the main campus, made up primarily of farm fields and an environmental reserve, which divides it from North Campus. In addition, the university owns several other properties in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
,
Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...
, Kitchener, and Stratford,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. The
Ion rapid transit Ion, stylized as ION, is an integrated public transportation network in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by Keolis and is part of the Grand River Transit (GRT) system, partially replacing GRT's Route 2 ...
system provides a transit connection between the main campus, and several off-campus facilities, including the university's start-up incubator program in Kitchener.


Libraries and museums

The university has four libraries housing more than 1.4 million books, as well as electronic resources including e-books, serial titles, and databases. Three libraries are on campus: the Dana Porter Library, housing material relating to arts, humanities and social science, the Davis Centre Library, housing material for engineering, mathematics and science, and the Witer Learning Resource Centre, housing material for the School of Optometry and Vision Science. The fourth library, the Musagetes Architecture Library, is in Cambridge, alongside the university's
School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...
. The libraries of the university's affiliated colleges are also considered a part of the university's library system. Doris E Lewis was the first University Librarian. The university's library system is also a member of the TriUniversity Group, a partnership between the
University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...
, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. The group provides students and researchers at all three universities with access to all of the collections and services. The group also operates the TUG Annex, a repository for less-used library resources from the three universities. University of Waterloo also operates the Earth Sciences Museum, on campus in the Centre for Environmental Information Technology. It is mainly used as an earth-science teaching museum for local schools and natural-science interest groups in southern Ontario. The main exhibits cover the
Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
, rocks and minerals, dinosaurs and ice age mammals. The museum's fossil exhibit includes a complete cast of an ''
Albertosaurus ''Albertosaurus'' (; meaning "Alberta lizard") is a genus of tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in western North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 71 million years ago. The type species, ''A. sarcophagus'', wa ...
'' and an authentic skeleton of a
Cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word "cave" and the scientific name ' ...
. The museum also houses an interactive, simulation mining tunnel which aims to teach sustainable mining practices. Also owned and operated by the university is the
Museum of Vision Science The School of Optometry and Vision Science is one of the professional schools at the University of Waterloo. It is a school within the university's University of Waterloo Faculty of Science, Faculty of Science and is the larger of the two optome ...
, which is at the university's School of Optometry building. The university had previously operated the
Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games The Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games was a public board game museum housed at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1971 as the Museum and Archive of Games, and renamed in 200 ...
, created by the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies and previously managed by the university's Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. Due to a lack of specific academic interest, in 2009, the decision was made to close the museum and transfer the collection elsewhere.


Housing and student facilities

The university has eight student residences: the Minota Hagey Residence, UW Place, Village 1 (the university's first residence), Ron Eydt Village, Mackenzie King Village, Columbia Lake North and South, and Claudette Millar Hall. In addition to the eight main campus residences, students may also apply to live at any of the university's affiliated college residences. The first residence built was Village 1, completed in 1966. Ron Eydt Village was still known as Village 2 in 1995 but had been renamed by 2000. The largest residential village at the university is UW Place, which houses 1,300 first-year students and 350 upper-year students, while the smallest residence is the Minota Hagey Residence, which houses 70 students and is almost exclusively for upper-year students. In September 2010, 24.9 percent of the undergraduate population lived on campus, including 71.1 percent of first-year students. Residents are represented by two residential councils at the university, South Council which represents the students at UW Place, and North Council which represents the remaining residential villages. Each council organizes their own events and has their own executive, budget, and meetings. However, the overall mission of both councils is to act as the official representatives for all residents living at the university's residences. The Student Life Centre is the centre of student governance and student directed social, cultural, entertainment and recreational activities, open seven days a week, year-round. The Student Life Centre contains the offices of a number of student organizations, including the
Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, an 1815 battle where Napoleon was defeated * Waterloo, Belgium, location of the battle Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica *King George Island (South Shetland Islands), kno ...
(WUSA), Student Housing Office, a number of retail and food services, and a variety of club space and study rooms. In 2017 ground broke on a joint 63,000 square foot expansion of the Student Life Centre and Physical Activities Complex. Built to the west of Burt Matthews Hall Green the expansion will connect all three floors with the Red North corner of the PAC providing social, fitness, study, multi-faith, dining, and bookable spaces for students. The project was initially projected to complete in Fall 2018; although has not been completed as of 2021. The WUSA also operates an information desk in the Student Life Centre called the Turnkey Desk. It is open 24/7 365, and it is where students go to book out study spaces within the SLC, as well as where they go for information on campus events, directions, and any questions students have. The Turnkey Desk also sells a variety of tickets including
GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...
tickets and various local transit tickets and movie theatre tickets. It is staffed almost entirely by university students or recent graduates, and is a salaried job on the campus. The idea for a student centre emerged during the 1960s, and to raise the necessary funds for the building students began to levy a $10 fee. Construction began in July 1966 and was completed in 1968. Tensions between the university and the student community surfaced over the management and ownership of the Student Life Centre. The conflict was not resolved until 1969, when Professor Johnson resigned his position as chairman of the Campus Centre Board, along with his colleague Pim Fitzgerald.


Off-campus facilities

The university has several satellite campuses and facilities throughout
Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
. The closest off-campus facilities are adjacent to the campus, with the university acquiring land and five buildings from
BlackBerry Ltd BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...
in December 2013. As of February 2014, the university uses three of the buildings, and leases the other two to BlackBerry Ltd. The Centre for Extended Learning in Kitchener, Ontario is a facility owned and managed by the university. The centre provides pre-university courses, part-time studies, online learning and professional development courses. In addition to the Centre for Extended Learning, Kitchener also holds the university's
School of Pharmacy The basic requirement for pharmacists A pharmacist, also known as a chemist ( Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distribute ...
. The pharmacy building was designed by
Siamak Hariri Siamak Hariri, OAA, AAA, AIBC, FRAIC, RCA, Intl. Assoc. AIA (born 1958) is a Canadian architect and a founding partner of Hariri Pontarini Architects, a full-service architectural and interior design practice based in Toronto, Canada. Born in ...
, and was completed in December 2008. While the School of Pharmacy acts as the anchor institution of this campus, other students and faculty of the university's Faculty of Applied Health Sciences also use the facilities. The campus includes a primary care teaching clinic which will integrate clinical care and teaching in pharmacy and optometry. Two other universities also make use of the Health Science and Pharmacy campus.
McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...
's medical school makes use of the campus as its base for its Waterloo Regional Campus, with 56 of the medical school's students admitted at the regional campus in 2012. Wilfrid Laurier University's School of Social Work also uses some of the facilities available on the campus. The university also operates the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business in Stratford, Ontario. The focus for the Stratford campus is on education in digital arts and media. The idea for the Stratford campus first took shape when the City of Stratford and the university signed a memorandum in October 2006. It officially opened in September 2010. In November 2009, the university also signed a memorandum of understanding with the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
regarding academic initiatives at the Stratford Campus. The campus also hosted the first four
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forums, before its move to Toronto in 2012. The university's
School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...
uses a campus in Cambridge, Ontario, on the west bank of the Grand River. The architecture campus was the idea of the Cambridge Consortium, a group of Cambridge business owners, who spearheaded the school's fundraising drive to cover a portion of the $27 million cost of creating the new campus. The school, along with its faculty and students, was moved to the new campus in September 2004. Since 1979, the School of Architecture has also operated an architecture studio in
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,
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in the Trastevere neighbourhood. The opportunity to work at the Trastevere studio is offered to fourth-year architecture students. Other facility which is owned and managed by the university include the Waterloo Summit Centre for the Environment, in Huntsville, Ontario. It is a year-round research and teaching centre, which regularly hosts post-secondary student field courses and professional development programs, and also serves as a university outreach facility for the whole region. Close to
Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...
and
Arrowhead Provincial Park Arrowhead Provincial Park is located north of Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Ontario Parks system. A portion of the shoreline of Glacial Lake Algonquin Lake Algonquin was a prehistoric proglacial lake that existed in east- ...
, the centre's facilities are used for research in ecological restoration and conservation.


Sustainability

Sustainability initiatives are divided between several departmental offices at the university, with the university's plant operations charged with their implementation. Prior to 2005, the management of sustainability efforts was conducted by the university's waste management coordinator. The university's sustainability initiatives are solely institution-specific, as it has not signed any national or international sustainability declaration. However, the university, along with the other members from the
Council of Ontario Universities The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) provides a forum for Ontario’s universities to collaborate and advocate in support of their shared mission to the benefit and prosperity of students, communities and the province of Ontario. A membershi ...
, signed a pledge in 2009 known as ''Ontario Universities Committed to a Greener World'', with the objective of transforming its campus into a model of environmental responsibility. The university's School of Environment, Enterprise and Development placed first in Canada in the
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2011 ranking for undergraduate business programs incorporating sustainability. The university campus received a C+ grade from the Sustainable Endowments Institute on its College Sustainability Report Card for 2011. In 2021, the University of Waterloo was ranked 99th in the world, and 15th in Canada in ''
Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
'' University Impact Rankings, a ranking that evaluated 1,115 universities from 94 countries/regions against the
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Sustainable Development Goals The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
. A dramatic drop from 2020's ranking of 16th in the world. Waterloo's Institute for Nanotechnology is Canada's largest nanotechnology institute committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.


Administration

The university operates under a bicameral system of a board of governors and a senate, as legislated by the University of Waterloo Act, 1972. The Board of Governors has responsibility for the university's properties, affairs, and income. The University of Waterloo Act calls for only 36 members, each of whom must hold Canadian citizenship. However, the number of members in the board for the 2013–2014 academic year is 40. The Board has five ''ex officio'' members, including the university's chancellor and president, and the mayors of Kitchener and Waterloo. The other 32 members of the board are either elected or appointed by the various members of the university community, including alumni, faculty, and student body. The senate establishes the educational policies of the university and makes recommendations to the board of governors in the management of the institution. The senate has 24 ''ex officio'' positions, including the university's president and chancellor, the vice-presidents, the senior dean of each faculty, the presidents of the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty associations, and the presidents and principals of the university's associated colleges. The senate's 61 other members are appointed or elected by various communities of the university including the faculty of the university, its associated colleges, the student body, and alumni. The president, appointed by the board of governors, acts as the university's chief executive officer with the senate's approval, administers the affairs of the university, and acts on behalf of the board with respect to the operational management and control of the university. The president is the chair of the senate and a member of the board. The president also holds the position of vice-chancellor, assuming the duties of the chancellor during his absences or a temporary vacancy in the office. The chancellor is elected by the members of the senate for a three-year term, although eligible for renewal. The chancellor's primary duty is to preside at all convocations and present candidates for
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
s to the senate. Dominic Barton has been the chancellor since 27 Oct 2018. He succeeded Tom Jenkins, who held the position since 1 May 2015. In March 2011,
Feridun Hamdullahpur Feridun Hamdullahpur (born ) is the chancellor of International Business University. Previously, he was the president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo. Hamdullahpur was named the sixth president of the University of Waterloo in Mar ...
was announced as the sixth president of the university, having been interim president since October 2010. On November 17, 2020,
Vivek Goel Vivek Goel is the current President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. As a physician and public health researcher, he was also a university administrator, and served as a special advisor to the president and provost of the Univer ...
was announced as the seventh president of the university. His five-year term began on July 1, 2021.


Affiliated institutions

The university also includes three semi-autonomous affiliated colleges and a federated university.
Conrad Grebel University College Conrad Grebel University College is a university college affiliated with the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The college is owned by Mennonite Church Eastern Canada and named for early Anabaptist leader Conrad Grebel. Its ...
is a
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
university college In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
that was chartered in 1961 and is religiously affiliated with the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.
Renison University College Renison University College is an affiliated university college of the University of Waterloo and located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Renison's campus is situated on the western border of Waterloo's main campus. The university college offers a ...
is an Anglican university college chartered in 1959; it entered an affiliation with the University of Waterloo in 1960 and is religiously affiliated with the
Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2017, the Anglican Church co ...
.
St. Jerome's University St. Jerome's University, commonly shortened to St. Jerome's or SJU, is a public Roman Catholic university in Waterloo, Ontario. It is federated with the University of Waterloo. St. Jerome's, within the University of Waterloo, combines academics ...
is a
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
university, founded in 1865, which entered into a federation with the University of Waterloo shortly after the provincial government granted it university status in 1959. United College is a university college founded by members of the
United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...
in 1962. However, United now operates independently from the United Church, without any formal or legal relationship. The three colleges and federated university are all within the University of Waterloo's main campus and operate their own residences. Students of these affiliated colleges and federated university are also academically integrated with the University of Waterloo. Students who study at any of them are also considered registered students of the University of Waterloo; with students from the federated universities able to enrol in classes and faculties, and graduate as a student from the University of Waterloo. Regardless of the affiliated colleges and federated university's religious affiliations, enrolment is not restricted based on the student's religious beliefs.


Finances

The university completed the 2014–2015 academic year with revenues of $936.240 million and expenses of $906.730 million, yielding a surplus of $29.510 million. Grants and contracts make up the largest source of revenue for the university, totaling $392.357 million, followed by academic fees at $357.889 million. Salaries make up nearly half of the university's expenses, at $439.973 million. As of 30 April 2015, the university's endowment is valued at $335.731 million.


Academics

Waterloo is a publicly funded research university, and a member of the
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada Universities Canada (french: Universités Canada) is an organization that represents Canada's universities. It is a non-profit national organization that coordinates university policies, guidance and direction. Formed in 1911, as the Association ...
. It functions on a term-based system, with fall, winter and spring terms. Undergraduate programs comprise the majority of the school's enrolment, made up of 24,377 full-time and part-time undergraduate students. The university conferred 5,741 bachelor's degrees and
first professional degree A professional degree, formerly known in the US as a first professional degree, is a degree that prepares someone to work in a particular profession, practice, or industry sector often meeting the academic requirements for licensure or accreditatio ...
s, 1,605 master's degrees, 332 doctoral degrees, during the 2016–2017 academic school year. The university is organized into six faculties, which operate a combined total of thirteen schools and over fifty academic departments. Financial aid available to students includes the
Ontario Student Assistance Program The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) ''( French: Régime d'aide financière aux étudiantes et étudiants de l'Ontario (RAFEO))'' is a provincial financial aid program that offers grants and loans to help Ontario students pay for their ...
and Canada Student Loans and Grants through the federal and provincial governments. The financial aid provided may come in the form of loans, grants, bursaries, scholarships, fellowships, debt reduction, interest relief, and work programs. The university has also partnered with other institutions for the purposes of jointly operating a graduate program. The
Balsillie School of International Affairs The Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) is a centre for advanced research and teaching on global governance and international public policy, located in Waterloo, Ontario. As one of the largest social sciences initiatives in Canada, t ...
(BSIA) is a graduate school and research centre operated in partnership with the
Centre for International Governance Innovation The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI, pronounced "see-jee") is an independent, non-partisan think tank on global governance. CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral ...
and Wilfrid Laurier University. The Perimeter's Scholar International program is another graduate program operated in partnership with the
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI, Perimeter, PITP) is an independent research centre in foundational theoretical physics located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1999. The institute's founding and major benefactor i ...
, in which its graduates receive a
Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
from the University of Waterloo. The university also offers its students the opportunity to earn credits towards their degree while studying abroad through
student exchange A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but doe ...
and international internship programs. The university has exchange agreements with over 100 institutions outside Canada.


Co-operative education

The university operates the largest post-secondary
co-operative education Cooperative education (or co-operative education) is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op", provides academic credit for struct ...
(co-op) program in the world with over 20,000 undergraduate students. For co-op students, each term acts as either a study term or a work term depending on their co-op sequencing; typically for the entire length of their degree. Co-op work terms are mandatory for all undergraduate engineering programs, as well as several arts and mathematics programs. Engineering students are required to complete five out their six scheduled work terms to graduate from their program, while students from other faculties typically need to complete four work terms. Engineering students alternate between school and work terms, completing a total of eight study terms and six work terms in the span of four and two-thirds years. However, some programs have unique co-op streams where consecutive school and work terms are scheduled near the end of the program, giving the students the opportunity to apply for eight-month positions. Students are responsible for securing their work placement for each of their co-op terms. This includes applying for positions and attending interviews during their study terms. Scheduling conflicts between interviews and exams are actively avoided but still possible, in which case one or the other are rescheduled, with the examination taking precedence. In order for the student to receive their co-op credit, their work term must meet a number of conditions. This includes being full-time, that it is related to the student's field of study, that it lasts for the full 16-week duration, and that it is compensated with at least the minimum wage in the location of work. Exceptions can be made for some of these conditions; for example, first work terms often do not have to be related to the student's field of study, especially if the student has had difficulty securing a position. At the end of the work term, the employer submits a performance evaluation for the student which is presented to the student's future employers during their next application stage. As of 2018, the university reports that its co-op students earn an average of per work term when working in Canada. However, co-op earnings vary greatly depending on field of study, how many work terms the student has already completed, and where the work term takes place. The university's highest earning undergraduate co-op students in 2018 were mathematics undergraduates (including computer science and computing and financial management) on their sixth work term and were working in the United States, who made an average of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
28,600 (C$38,000) per four-month work term. Several programs where co-op is mandatory report high levels of employment from their graduation, with 98 percent of graduates from the Accounting and Financial Management, Math/ CPA, Biotech/CPA, and
Master of Accounting The Master of Accountancy (MAcc, MAcy, or MAccy), alternatively Master of Science in Accounting (MSA or MSAcy) or Master of Professional Accountancy (MPAcy, MPAcc or MPAc), is a graduate professional degree designed to prepare students for public ...
programs reporting that they found employment within six months after graduating. In the same year, the graduates of the university's
Master of Taxation Master of Taxation (MTax), Master of Business Taxation (MBT), or Master of Science in Taxation (MSTax) is a higher degree in taxation conferred by universities. MTax programs prepare graduates for executive careers in the accounting profession with ...
co-op program reported that 100 percent of its students secured full-time employment prior to graduating. The William M. Tatham Centre is the home of the Centre for Career Action office, where resources such as resume critiques, mock interviews, and networking advice are available. WaterlooWorks is the university's official job board, on which over 7000 employers post available positions. Most positions on WaterlooWorks are in Canada, although international job listings from employers based in the United States, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and other countries have also been placed on WaterlooWorks. The United States is the most common destination for international work terms. In addition to using WaterlooWorks, students may pursue their own external job search, or found their own company, to receive their co-op credit.


Reputation

In the 2022
Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...
, the university ranked 151–200 in the world and 7–8 in Canada. The 2023
QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
ranked the university 154th in the world and seventh in Canada. The 2023
Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
placed Waterloo 201–250 in the world and 8–10 in Canada. In the '' U.S. News & World Report'' 2022–23 ranking, the university placed 191st in the world, and eighth in Canada, tied with the
University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...
. In terms of national rankings, ''
Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspe ...
'' 2023 university rankings ranked Waterloo third in the magazine's comprehensive university category. The university also placed second in ''Maclean's'' 2023 reputational survey of Canadian universities. The university also placed in a number of rankings that evaluated a graduate's employment prospects. In QS's 2022 graduate employability ranking, Waterloo ranked 24th in the world, and second in Canada. In the Times Higher Education 2022 graduate employability ranking, Waterloo was ranked 191st in the world, and ninth in Canada. In an employability survey published by ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' in October 2011, when CEOs and chairpersons were asked to select the top universities which they recruited from, the university placed 108th in the world, and seventh in Canada. In 2014, a study from Riviera Partners found that the University of Waterloo had the third-most hired undergraduate candidates in
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
. In 2016, Startup Compass found that University of Waterloo alumni were the second-most frequently hired in small and medium-sized companies in Silicon Valley. Dr. Steven Woods, engineering director at
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
in Canada, said in 2013 that "the University of Waterloo is one of Google's largest three or four recruiting universities year-over-year orldwide along with
MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
and
Carnegie Mellon Carnegie may refer to: People * Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name * Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie *Carnegie Building (Troy, New York), on the campus of Rensselaer Polyt ...
." In 2014, ''Business Insider'' found via LinkedIn data that the University of Waterloo has the fourth-most alumni working at
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, and the third-most alumni working at
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
.


Research

The University of Waterloo is a member of the U15, a group that represents 15 Canadian research universities. In 2018, Research Infosource ranked Waterloo 12th on their list of top 50 Canadian research universities, with a sponsored research income (external sources of funding) of $189.333 million in 2017. In the same year, the university's faculty averaged a sponsored research income of $163,100, while graduate students averaged a sponsored research income of $34,700. Research funds comes from private, and public sources. In 2019, the university has received over C$15 million in research funding from
Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...
. Waterloo's research performance has been noted several
bibliometric Bibliometrics is the use of statistical methods to analyse books, articles and other publications, especially in regard with scientific contents. Bibliometric methods are frequently used in the field of library and information science. Biblio ...
university rankings, which uses
citation analysis Citation analysis is the examination of the frequency, patterns, and graphs of citations in documents. It uses the directed graph of citations — links from one document to another document — to reveal properties of the documents. A t ...
to evaluates the
impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Impac ...
a university has on academic publications. In 2019, the
Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities The Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities or NTU Ranking is a ranking system of world universities by scientific paper volume, impact, and performance output. The ranking was originally published from 2007 to 2011 by the ...
ranked Waterloo 242nd in the world, and 10th in Canada. The
University Ranking by Academic Performance The University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) is a university ranking developed by the Informatics Institute of Middle East Technical University. Since 2010, it has been publishing annual national and global college and university rankin ...
2018–19 rankings placed the university 191st in the world, and 10th in Canada.The university operates and manages 41 research centres and institutes, including the
Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research The Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research (CACR) is a group of industrial representatives, professors, and students at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada who work and do research in the field of cryptography. The CACR aim ...
, the
Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) is located at the University of Waterloo and is co-located with the Institute for Quantum Computing in the Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC). WIN is currently headed by Dr. Su ...
, the
Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC) is a Canadian educational organization dedicated to promoting and creating activities and materials in mathematics and computer science. Founded in 1995 with origins dating back to the 1 ...
, the
Institute for Quantum Computing The Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) is an affiliate scientific research institute of the University of Waterloo located in Waterloo, Ontario with a multidisciplinary approach to the field of quantum information processing. IQC was founde ...
, and the Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience. Official recognition and designation of all centres and institutes requires the approval of the university's Senate. On 6 April 2018, the University of Waterloo announced the launching of its
Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
Institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...
. The university has undertaken several research partnerships with other institutions. In 2007, the Balsillie School of International Affairs (BSIA) was established as a graduate school and research centre in partnership with the University of Waterloo. BSIA operates three research centres relating to public governance and public policy. In 2016,
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
hardware development division announced a partnership with Waterloo, along with 16 other post-secondary institutions, as Facebook explores new revenue streams in virtual reality, cyber security, and other areas of research. In 2019,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
announced a partnership with Waterloo's Artificial Intelligence Institute worth $115 million over five years as part of Microsoft's broader AI For Good Initiative. Waterloo's Artificial Intelligence Institute is an interdisciplinary initiative involving the researchers from faculties of arts, engineering, mathematics, and computer science. During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, researchers at the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology worked in collaboration with SiO2 Innovation Labs to develop a coating that kills the virus upon impact. The antiviral coating could be applied to all personal protective equipment and high-touch surfaces. This research was supported by both the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering rese ...
and
Mitacs Mitacs is a nonprofit national research organization that, in partnerships with Canadian academia, private industry and government, operates research and training programs in fields related to industrial and social innovation. History Mitacs was ...
. The school also received a $499,935 grant from the
Public Health Agency of Canada The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC; french: Agence de la santé publique du Canada, ASPC) is an agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, emergency preparedness and response, and infectious and chronic dis ...
's Immunization Partnership Fund to engage health care professionals and community leaders to combat
COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagin ...
and increase acceptance of
COVID-19 vaccines A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an est ...
.


Admission

The requirements for admission differ between students from Ontario, students from other provinces in Canada, and international students, due to the lack of uniformity in marking schemes. The minimum averages required for these programs are determined each year based on the number and qualification of applicants and the number of available spaces. As of 2016, the secondary school average for first year, full-time students at the University of Waterloo was at 90.1 percent. In 2018, 61.2 percent of new students at Waterloo had a high school average equal to or greater than 90 percent, and 28.2 percent had an average equal to or greater than 95 percent. However, this proportion varies greatly between programs at the university. In the case of admission into the Engineering and Math faculties, there is a large weighting given to the applicant's supplementary application, extracurricular involvement, adjustment factors for individual high schools, and an admissions video interview. Thus, it is possible to receive an offer with an average much lower than the mean admission average. The retention rate of the university's first-time, full-time first-year students in 2016 was 93.9 percent.


Student life


Organizations

The university's two main student unions are the Waterloo Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) for undergraduate students, and the Graduate Student Association (GSA) for graduate students. Founded in 1967 as the Federation of Students, WUSA operates four businesses, twelve student services, oversees over 200 accredited student clubs; in addition to operating other student programs and events. Each of the university's faculties has a student society which represent and provide services for the students in their respective faculties. Services include online exam banks, resume critiques, and technical skills workshops. Some student societies also operate a student deal discount program and one to two shops selling coffee and food at low prices. Each faculty also operates a student-run endowment fund, which fund student design teams, laboratory upgrades, and services for their respective student societies. As of January 2015, neither the university administration nor the two main student unions recognize fraternities or sororities.
Alpha Epsilon Pi Alpha Epsilon Pi (), commonly known as AEPi, is a college fraternity founded at New York University in 1913 by Charles C. Moskowitz and ten other men. The fraternity has more than 150 active chapters across the United States, Canada, United K ...
, Pi Kappa Alpha and
Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American fraternal literary societies. The fraternity has 244 active (undergraduate) chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has initiated more tha ...
operate as non-accredited off-campus fraternities, and
Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international women's fraternity founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AOI ...
and
Kappa Kappa Gamma Kappa Kappa Gamma (), also known simply as Kappa or KKG, is a collegiate sorority founded at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois, United States. It has a membership of more than 260,000 women, with 140 collegiate chapters in the United States a ...
as non-accredited off-campus sororities.


Journalism

The three main student publications on campus are ''Imprint'', the university's official
student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...
, ''mathNEWS'', the Math Society's free-form publication, and ''The Iron Warrior,'' the
Engineering Society An engineering society is a professional organization for engineers of various disciplines. Some are umbrella type organizations which accept many different disciplines, while others are discipline-specific. Many award professional designations, s ...
's newspaper. ''Imprint'' replaced ''
The Chevron ''The Chevron'' was the official newspaper published by the Federation of Students at the University of Waterloo (in the city of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories ...
'' as the official student newspaper in 1979, and publishes a weekly edition during the fall and winter semesters and a biweekly edition in the spring semester. ''mathNEWS'' and ''The Iron Warrior'' publish biweekly in print and online throughout the year. The university formerly included a student-funded campus radio station,
CKMS-FM CKMS-FM (branded as ''Radio Waterloo'') is a Canadian community radio station, broadcasting at 102.7 FM in Waterloo, Ontario. History The station launched in 1977 at 94.5 FM as the campus radio station of the University of Waterloo The Uni ...
. The student union withdrew financial support for the stations' operations in 2008 following several referendums and CKMS transitioned to a
community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...
model.


Athletics

The university's sports teams are known as the
Waterloo Warriors The Waterloo Warriors are the athletic teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in football, hockey, rugby, golf and basketball among others, and the Warrior ...
. They participate in the
Canadian Interuniversity Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Can ...
'
Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics (OUA; french: Sports universitaires de l'Ontario) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providin ...
conference for most varsity sports. Varsity teams include badminton, baseball, basketball, cross country, curling, field hockey, figure skating, Canadian football, golf, hockey, Nordic skiing, rugby, soccer, squash, swimming, track and field, tennis and volleyball. The athletics program at the university dates back to 1957, when students of Waterloo College Associate Faculties participated in the sports program of Waterloo College. The university had its own independent team when the Associate Faculties officially became the University of Waterloo. The university's varsity teams and the university's recreational sports programs are operated and managed by the Department of Athletics and Recreational Activity. The university has a number of athletic facilities open to varsity teams and other students. Seating 5,400 people,
Warrior Field Warrior Field is a sports stadium in Waterloo, Ontario with a seated capacity of 1,700 in the grandstand, and 5,700 overall including lawn and endzone areas. It is home to the Waterloo Warriors football, soccer, and field hockey teams while also ...
is the university's largest stadium by seating capacity; and is used as the home field for the varsity field hockey and football teams, and hosts the university's recreational flag football and soccer activities. Prior to the completion of Warrior Field in 2008, the university's varsity teams used Seagram Stadium as their home stadium. Seagram Stadium was built by the university's predecessor, Waterloo College Associate Faculties, and remained under the ownership of the university until 1974, when it was sold to the City of Waterloo. However, the university continued to use Seagram Stadium until 2008. Other facilities include the Physical Activity Complex, which houses two gymnasiums, beach volleyball courts, squash rooms, and a swimming pool, and is also home to the university's varsity badminton, basketball, squash, swimming and volleyball teams. The Columbia Ice Field was constructed in 1983 and houses the university's hockey team home rink, with a seating capacity of 700. The Ice Field has been expanded twice, in 1990 and 2003, and now includes three gyms and a number of fitness centres. Including the football field, the university manages seven outdoor playing fields, with Fields 1 and 2 reserved for the varsity soccer and rugby teams, while portions of Field 3 are used as a
baseball field A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
. The rest of the fields are used by the university's recreational sports programs.


Entrepreneurship

The University of Waterloo operates a startup incubator for its students, faculty, and alumni called the Velocity program. With no fees or equity, it is the largest free startup incubator in the world. It offers office space for up to 120 startup companies, as well as a wet laboratory, assembly space, workshop, and prototyping lab. The program also provides business mentorship to its resident companies and to Waterloo students as well as partnerships with researchers at the university's main campus. Velocity provides some students and startups with grants, previously valued from C$5,000 to C$25,000. As of 2019, the $25,000 grant was removed and companies in Velocity may now pitch their ideas to instead receive C$50,000 in funding, with equity stakes from investors. Companies that emerged from the Velocity program include Maluuba. In addition to the resources provided by Velocity, alumni regularly receive funding for their startups from United States accelerators. Companies Waterloo alumni have founded with the aid of Silicon Valley accelerator
Y Combinator Y Combinator (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator launched in March 2005. It has been used to launch more than 3,000 companies, including Airbnb, Coinbase, Cruise, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart, Quora, PagerDuty, Reddit, St ...
include
Pebble A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predominant ...
and
Bufferbox BufferBox Inc. was a Canadian startup from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that leveraged parcel kiosks to provide consumers the convenience of picking up their online purchases 24/7. Founded by Jay Shah, Aditya Bali and Mike McCaule ...
. Y Combinator founder Paul Graham and president
Sam Altman Samuel H. Altman ( ; born April 22, 1985) is an American entrepreneur, investor, programmer, and blogger. He is the CEO of OpenAI and the former president of Y Combinator. Early life and education Altman grew up in St. Louis, Missouri; his mothe ...
have both noted the University of Waterloo has stood out to them more than any other school during Y Combinator applications. In 2017, ''Pitchbook Data'' ranked the University of Waterloo's undergraduate program fourth for schools that have the greatest number of alumni who have founded
unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...
startups. As of the same year, Waterloo students and alumni have raised a cumulative
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
3.662 billion in venture capital. The current unicorn startups from Waterloo are
Wish A wish is a hope or desire for something. In fiction, wishes can be used as plot devices. In folklore, opportunities for "making a wish" or for wishes to "come true" or "be granted" are themes that are sometimes used. In fiction In fictio ...
,
Instacart Instacart is an American company that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the United States and Canada. The company offers its services via a website and mobile app. The service allows customers to order groceries from participatin ...
,
Kik Messenger Kik Messenger, commonly called Kik, is a freeware instant messaging mobile app from the Canada, Canadian company Kik Interactive, available on iOS and Android (operating system), Android operating systems. The application uses a smartphone's int ...
,
Pivotal Software Pivotal Software, Inc. was an American multinational software and services company based in San Francisco that provided cloud platform hosting and consulting services. Since December 2019, Pivotal has been part of VMware. History Pivotal S ...
, and Storm8.


Insignias and other representations

The University of Waterloo's coat of arms has been used as a symbol of the institution since 1961, with the coat of arms also being used in the logo of the university, and its academic faculties and departments. The university's colours is black, gold, and white, and may be found on the university's coat of arms. The school also maintains official colours to represent the academic faculties of the university. Other objects have also been used to represent the faculties of the university. Mathematics students have used pink ties to represent their faculty since 1968, when a pink tie was placed on the exterior of the Mathematics & Computer Building during the building's opening. A copy of the statue of ''
Porcellino ''Il Porcellino'' (Italian "piglet") is the local Florentine nickname for the bronze fountain of a boar. The fountain figure was sculpted and cast by Baroque master Pietro Tacca (1577–1640) shortly before 1634, following a marble Italian copy ...
'' at the university's Modern Languages Building is also used as a mascot for the Faculty of Arts. The statue was donated to the university in 1978, and was placed at the Modern Languages Building.


Coat of Arms

The university's coat of arms was first used by the university in October 1961, but was only officially granted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms in August 1987. It was not registered with the
Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority (CHA; french: Autorité héraldique du Canada) is part of the Canadian honours system under the Canadian monarch, whose authority is exercised by the Governor General of Canada. The authority is responsible for t ...
until 15 February 2001. Four variations of the coat of arms existed. The first was used from 1961 to 1996, when the second bright-yellow shield using slightly different shaped lions was introduced. The yellow background was dulled in 2000, and finally, the original lions were reintroduced in 2010 in conjunction with the attempt to replace the use of the coat of arms with a futuristic ''W'' logo. The new logo was eventually rejected after student opposition. The red-on-gold lions on the university's arms were adopted from those of
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...
, who defeated
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
at the
Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...
. The City of Waterloo was named after an area just south of
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, where the battle occurred. The chevron on the arms was taken from the arms of
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. Kitchener came to prominence for his imperial campaigns, his scorched earth policy against the Boers, h ...
, Field Marshal with the British Army during World War I. The black and white pattern used on the chevron was based on the colours of
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, as homage to the German heritage of the area. The City of Kitchener was originally known as Berlin, but was renamed after Earl Kitchener in 1916 during World War I.


Motto and songs

The university's Latin motto is ''Concordia cum veritate'', translated as "In Harmony with Truth". It was introduced along with the university coat of arms in October 1961. A number of songs are commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement,
convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...
, and athletic contests. The main song of the university is known as the "Black and White and Gold". The words were written by K. D. Fryer and H. F. Davis, while the music was composed by Alfred Kunz.


Notable alumni and faculty

File:David Johnston 2011-12-01.jpg,
David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...
, 28th
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...
File:Rmundell.jpg,
Robert Mundell Robert Alexander Mundell (October 24, 1932 – April 4, 2021) was a Canadian economist. He was a professor of economics at Columbia University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences i ...
,
Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...
in
economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...
File:Donna Strickland, OSA Holiday Party 2012.jpg, Donna Strickland, Nobel laureate in
physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
File:Chris Hadfield 2011.jpg, Chris Hadfield, retired Canadian astronaut. File:Mr Mike Lazaridis OC FRS.jpg,
Mike Lazaridis Mihal "Mike" Lazaridis (born March 14, 1961) is a Canadian businessman, investor in quantum computing technologies, and founder of BlackBerry, which created and manufactured the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. With an estimated net worth of ...
, founder of
BlackBerry Limited BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...
. File:Kevin O'Leary 2012.jpg,
Kevin O'Leary Terence Thomas Kevin O'Leary (born 9 July 1954), also known as Mr. Wonderful, is a Canadian businessman, entrepreneur, and television personality. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows. These include the business n ...
, Canadian businessman, author, politician, and television personality. File:Chamath Palihapitiya 2016 Dialog (cropped).jpg, Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of
Social Capital Social capital is "the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively". It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships ...
and minority owner of the
Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...
. File:Beckie Scott.jpg,
Beckie Scott Rebecca "Beckie" Scott, (born August 1, 1974) is a Canadian retired cross-country skier. She is Chair of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Committee, and served as an International Olympic Committee member by virtue of being elected ...
,
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
gold medalist in
cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...
. File:Rupi Kaur by Baljit Singh.jpg,
Rupi Kaur Rupi Kaur (born 4 October 1992) is a Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. Born in Punjab, India, Kaur emigrated to Canada at a young age with her family. She began performing poetry in 2009 and rose to fame on Instagram, eventua ...
, popular Canadian poet and author of Milk and Honey.
Over 221,000 people have graduated from the university, and now reside in over 150 countries. Waterloo graduates have accumulated a number of awards, such as
George Elliott Clarke George Elliott Clarke, (born February 12, 1960) is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known larg ...
, recipient of the
Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
; William Reeves, recipient of an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, and a number of
Rhodes Scholarships The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is con ...
. Two members of the university have received the
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
. In 1999,
Robert Mundell Robert Alexander Mundell (October 24, 1932 – April 4, 2021) was a Canadian economist. He was a professor of economics at Columbia University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences i ...
was awarded the
Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...
for his work in monetary dynamics and optimum currency areas. In 2018, university faculty member Donna Strickland was awarded
Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...
for her work in
laser physics Laser science or laser physics is a branch of optics that describes the theory and practice of lasers. Laser science is principally concerned with quantum electronics, laser construction, optical cavity design, the physics of producing a popul ...
. Other notable awards and positions bestowed on people affiliated with the university includes two Canada Excellence Research Chair laureates, five Killam Prize winners, 74
Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...
s, and 83 Fellows to the
Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
. A number of business leaders have worked or studied at Waterloo. Examples include David I. McKay, president and CEO of the
Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...
, Kevin O’Leary, founder of
SoftKey SoftKey International (originally SoftKey Software Products, Inc.) was a software company founded by Kevin O'Leary in 1986 in Toronto, Ontario. It was known as The Learning Company from 1995 to 1999 after acquiring The Learning Company and ...
, John Baker, founder of
Desire2Learn D2L (or Desire2Learn) is a Canada-based global software company with offices in Australia, Brazil, Europe, Singapore, and the United States. D2L is the developer of the Brightspace learning management system, a cloud-based software suite us ...
,
David Cheriton David Ross Cheriton (born March 29, 1951) is a Canadian computer scientist, mathematician, billionaire businessman, philanthropist, and venture capitalist. He is a computer science professor at Stanford University, where he founded and leads the ...
, co-founder and chief scientist of
Arista Networks Arista Networks (formerly Arastra) is an American computer networking company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. The company designs and sells multilayer network switches to deliver software-defined networking (SDN) for large datacenter ...
,
Mike Lazaridis Mihal "Mike" Lazaridis (born March 14, 1961) is a Canadian businessman, investor in quantum computing technologies, and founder of BlackBerry, which created and manufactured the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. With an estimated net worth of ...
, co-founder and former co-CEO of Research in Motion (now
BlackBerry Ltd BlackBerry Limited is a Canadian software company specializing in cybersecurity. Founded in 1984, it was originally known as Research In Motion (RIM). As RIM, it developed the BlackBerry brand of interactive pagers, smartphones, and tablets ...
),
Prem Watsa Prem Watsa (born 5 August 1950) is an Indian-Canadian billionaire businessman who is the founder, chairman, and chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings, based in Toronto. He has been called the "Canadian Warren Buffett." He was awarded th ...
, chairman of
Fairfax Financial Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a Canadian financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, which is engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company oper ...
and a former chancellor of the university,
Steven Woods Steven Gregory Woods (born June 16, 1965) is a Canadian entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding ''Quack.com'', the first popular Voice portal platform, in 1998. Woods became the head of engineering for Google Canada where he was until 2021 ...
, co-founder of
NeoEdge Networks NeoEdge Networks was a Silicon Valleybased technology and in-game advertising company that enabled casual game publishers and developers to deliver television-like commercials within their products frequently in the context of free-to-consumer ca ...
and
Quack.com Quack.com was an early voice portal company. The domain name later was used for Quack, an iPad search application from AOL. History It was founded in 1998 by Steven Woods, Jeromy Carriere and Alex Quilici as a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, ba ...
and co-founders of
Waterloo Maple Waterloo Maple Inc. is a Canadian software company, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario. It operates under the trade name Maplesoft. It is best known as the manufacturer of the Maple computer algebra system, and MapleSim physical modeling and ...
,
Keith Geddes Keith Oliver Geddes (born 1947) is a professor emeritus in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science within the University of Waterloo Faculty of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. He i ...
and
Gaston Gonnet Gaston H. Gonnet is a Uruguayan Canadian computer scientist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his contributions to the Maple computer algebra system and the creation of a digital version of the Oxford English Dictionary. Education and ear ...
. Gonnet was also the co-founder of
OpenText OpenText Corporation (also written ''opentext'') is a Canadian company that develops and sells enterprise information management (EIM) software. OpenText, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is Canada's fourth-largest software company ...
Corporation. Several faculty members and students have also gained local and national prominence in government.
David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...
, the former president of Waterloo, served as the 28th
Governor General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, t ...
from 2010 to 2017. A number of the university's faculty and students have also gained prominence in the field of computing sciences. Examples include
QNX QNX ( or ) is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market. QNX was one of the first commercially successful microkernel operating systems. The product was originally developed in the early ...
operating systems co-creators
Gordon Bell Chester Gordon Bell (born August 19, 1934) is an American electrical engineer and manager. An early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) 1960–1966, Bell designed several of their PDP machines and later became Vice President of Engi ...
and
Dan Dodge Dan Dodge is a cocreator of the QNX microkernel real-time operating system, with Gordon Bell. They began the project while students at the University of Waterloo in 1980. Dodge then moved to Kanata, Ontario, a high-tech area outside Ottawa, to star ...
,
Rasmus Lerdorf Rasmus Lerdorf (born 22 November 1968) is a Danish-Canadian programmer. He co-authored and inspired the PHP scripting language, authoring the first two versions of the language and participating in the development of later versions led by a gro ...
, the creator of the
PHP PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group. ...
scripting language,
Matei Zaharia Matei Zaharia is a Romanian-Canadian computer scientist, educator and the creator of Apache Spark. As of April 2022, Forbes ranked him and Ion Stoica as the 3rd- richest people in Romania with a net worth of $1.6 billion. Biography Zaharia g ...
, the creator of
Apache Spark Apache Spark is an open-source unified analytics engine for large-scale data processing. Spark provides an interface for programming clusters with implicit data parallelism and fault tolerance. Originally developed at the University of Californi ...
, Gordon Cormack, the co-creator of the Dynamic Markov compression algorithm,
Ric Holt Richard Craig Holt (February 13, 1941 – April 12, 2019) was an American-Canadians, Canadian computer scientists, computer scientist. Early life Holt was born on in 1941 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, to Vashti Young and C.P. Holt, but later move ...
, co-creator of several programming languages, most notably
Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical co ...
, Jack Edmonds, a computer scientist, and developer of the
Blossom algorithm In graph theory, the blossom algorithm is an algorithm for constructing maximum matchings on graphs. The algorithm was developed by Jack Edmonds in 1961, and published in 1965. Given a general graph , the algorithm finds a matching such that ea ...
, and the Edmonds' algorithm, and
William Thomas Tutte William Thomas Tutte OC FRS FRSC (; 14 May 1917 – 2 May 2002) was an English and Canadian codebreaker and mathematician. During the Second World War, he made a brilliant and fundamental advance in cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher, a majo ...
, a
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
codebreaker who cracked the Nazi high command's Lorenz Cypher. Graduates from the university have also risen to prominence in other fields.
Heather Moyse Heather Moyse (born July 23, 1978) is a Canadian athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist, representing Canada in international competition as a bobsledder, rugby union player, and track cyclist and competing at the Canadian intercollegiate le ...
, a graduate from the
kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...
program, is a prominent Canadian athlete and two-time Olympic bobsleigh gold medalist. Moyse has represented Canada in international bobsleigh, rugby and track cycling competitions. Graduate of the Rhetoric and Professional Writing program,
Rupi Kaur Rupi Kaur (born 4 October 1992) is a Canadian poet, illustrator, photographer, and author. Born in Punjab, India, Kaur emigrated to Canada at a young age with her family. She began performing poetry in 2009 and rose to fame on Instagram, eventua ...
is a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
poet, writer, illustrator. Her book of poetry, Milk and Honey, has spent over a year on ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
bestsellers list, reaching No. 1 in January 2017.
George Elliott Clarke George Elliott Clarke, (born February 12, 1960) is a Canadian poet, playwright and literary critic who served as the Poet Laureate of Toronto from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017 Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His work is known larg ...
, who served as the
Poet Laureate of Toronto The Poet Laureate of Toronto is the city's literary ambassador and advocate for poetry, language and the arts. The poet laureate's mandate includes the creation of a legacy project that is unique to the individual. They also attend events across th ...
from 2012 to 2015 and as the 2016–2017
Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate The Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate (french: Poète officiel du Parlement du Canada) is the national poet laureate of Canada. The current poet laureate is Louise Bernice Halfe. The position is an office of the Library of Parliament. Role A ...
, graduated with an English degree. On 2 October 2018, Donna Strickland, an associate professor at the Physics and Astronomy Department, was awarded the
Nobel prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
in physics. Strickland is the third woman to have ever been awarded the prize in physics. This was the first Nobel prize for a member of the university's faculty. Strickland was honoured for being half of the team to discover
chirped pulse amplification Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) is a technique for amplifying an ultrashort pulse, ultrashort laser pulse up to the petawatt level, with the laser pulse being stretched out temporally and spectrally, then amplified, and then compressed again. The ...
, a technique that underpins today's short-pulse, high-intensity lasers.
Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...
explained the practical aspects of the invention as it applies in the most noteworthy application: it allows for "ultrabrief, ultrasharp beams can be used to make extremely precise cuts, so their technique is now used in laser machining and enables doctors to perform millions of corrective" laser eye surgeries.


See also

*
Higher education in Ontario Higher education in Ontario includes postsecondary education and skills training regulated by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and provided by universities, colleges of applied arts and technology, and private career colleges.Ministry ...
* J. W. Graham Medal *
List of Canadian universities by endowment This list of Canadian universities by endowment groups the universities in Canada according to their endowments. As of the end of the 2021/2022 fiscal year, the total value of endowments at Canadian universities was nearly $21 billion. Some uni ...
*
List of Nobel laureates by university affiliation This list of Nobel laureates by university affiliation shows the university affiliations of individual winners of the Nobel Prize since 1901 and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences since 1969. The affiliations are those at the time of th ...
*
List of universities in Ontario Universities in Canada are established and operate under provincial and territorial government charters, except in one case directed by First Nations bands and in another by federal legislation. Most public universities in the country are memb ...
* Midnight Sun Solar Race Team * University of Waterloo Nano Robotics Group * Waterloo Global Science Initiative


Footnotes


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

*
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterloo, University Of Educational institutions established in 1956 1956 establishments in Ontario Universities in Ontario Waterloo