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(In Detail)
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| Motto: Concordia cum veritate (Latin: In harmony with truth) |
| Chancellor |
Mike Lazaridis |
| President |
David L. Johnston |
| School type |
Public |
| Religious affiliation |
Main campus: None
Conrad Grebel: Mennonite
Renison: Anglican
St. Jerome's: Catholic
St. Paul's: United |
| Founded |
1957 |
| Location |
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
| Enrollment |
21,550 undergraduate
2,485 graduate
(2003) |
| Campus surroundings |
Urban, suburban |
| Campus size |
4 kmē (1000 acres) |
| Sports teams |
Warriors |
| Mascot |
Warrior |
| Colours |
Gold, black, and white |
The University of Waterloo, also known as "UW" or simply "Waterloo", is a medium-sized research-intensive
public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The enrollment for 2003 was 21,550 undergraduate
and 2,485 graduate students, with 787 full-time faculty members. The University was founded in 1957.
The University of Waterloo was originally conceived in 1955 as the Waterloo College Associate Faculties (WCAF), a semi-autonomous entity within Waterloo College (now Wilfrid Laurier University). Its first classes began in
1957, and two years later it became the University of Waterloo. From its relatively recent and humble origin, UW has come to the
forefront of research in Canada. The University of Waterloo now attracts many bright students from across Canada and is widely
recognized as one of Canada's premier universities.
Waterloo is famous for being the groundbreaking proponent of co-operative education in Canada and currently maintains the largest such program in the world. Due
to this, Waterloo has established strong ties with many major corporations in
North America. In the annual Maclean's Magazine university rankings, Waterloo consistently scores within the top three positions in
its category (research-intensive institutions with a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs without medical schools).
Since the beginning of Maclean's reputational rankings, Waterloo has placed first overall out of all Canadian universities for 11
years in a row (1992-2002). This remarkable feat
ended when Waterloo slipped to second place overall in the 2003 rankings.
The University has faculties of Applied Health Sciences, Arts, Engineering, Environmental Studies, Independent Studies, Mathematics, and
Science as well as an on-campus school of Optometry. There are also four federated university colleges with religious affiliations on campus: St.
Jerome's University (Roman Catholic), Renison College (Anglican),
St.
Paul's United College (United Church of Canada),
and Conrad Grebel University College (Mennonite).
With strong programs in mathematics, science, computer science, and engineering, the University has at times been touted as the MIT of Canada. In addition, the prowess of Waterloo's students in academic competitions such as the William Lowell
Putnam Mathematical Competition and the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest has greatly contributed
to the University's reputation in the last few decades.
Future Plans
The University of Waterloo School of Architecture is currently in the process of being relocated in downtown Cambridge, Ontario. This move is expected to be completed in
September, 2004. This will give the School of Architecture more space to develop, as well as bolster the economy of the Cambridge
downtown area.
The University of Waterloo Research and Technology Park is currently under construction on the University's north campus. This
park is intended to house many of the high-tech industries in the area, and the maintain the partnership between university and
private-sector innovation.
The University and the City of Kitchener are currently
investigating the possibility of constructing a health sciences campus, including a School of Pharmacy, in the central Kitchener warehouse district. Kitchener City Council has tentatively approved spending to
develop the former industrial site.
With generous donations by alumni and matching contributions from government, the University announced in April 2004 the founding of the Institute for Quantum Computing. [1]
Facts and Figures
- UW was the first university in the world to establish a Faculty of Mathematics
- UW's Faculty of Mathematics is the world's largest faculty in the mathematical, statistical, and computer sciences
- UW accounts for more than $1.6 billion of economic activity (1999) in Ontario
- Annually, UW attracts about 400,000 visitors from outside the region
- Annually, UW is responsible for close to a quarter of the spin-off companies identified from Canadian universities
Famous Alumni and Faculty
Presidents
Traditions and Peculiarities
- A unique species of tree is donated by each graduating class and planted on Alumni Lane
- The Davis Centre is designed to look like a microchip in an aerial view of the building
- Students in the Faculty of Mathematics receive a pink
tie upon enrollment
- Students in the Faculty of Engineering receive a yellow hard hat upon enrollment
- Students in the Faculty of Science receive a white lab coat upon enrollment
- Students in the Faculty of Engineering receive the iron ring upon
graduation
External Links
Legend of the Pink Tie
The Legend of the Pink Tie is the story of how pink ties became the unofficial symbol for students at the Faculty of
Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. The official page for the legend is here .
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