The David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science has...
- More than 100 professorial, emeritus and teaching stream professorial faculty members
- More than 60 administrative, instructional and technical staff
- More than 4,000 undergraduate students
- More than 400 graduate students
- Been ranked consistently as the top computer science school in Canada and among the best internationally
- Eleven Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, ten Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery, seven Fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, one Canada Excellence Research Chair, two Canada Research Chairs, two NSERC Industrial Research Chairs, and 15 Ontario Early Researcher Award recipients
- Accepted Waterloo’s youngest graduate student, Erik Demaine, who was just 14 years old when he enrolled to pursue a PhD in computer science. Erik Demaine is now a professor of computer science at MIT.
- Research collaborations with institutions in China, France, Brazil, the United States, and many more nations
- Participated in the annual International Collegiate Programming Contest for more than 25 years — we are the only Canadian institution to ever win the International Collegiate Programming Competition, taking the prized title in 1994 and again in 1999!
Our research spans the field of computer science, from core work on systems and networks, computational theory and programming languages to human-computer interaction and quantum computing to AI and machine learning, to name just a few.
Leaders in computing since the 1960s
The first computer we acquired, an IBM 610, was purchased for student use in 1960.
In 1966, we bought an IBM 360/75 for $3 million more than the cost of the entire MC building. It was the largest and most powerful computer in Canada at the time and was housed in the famous Red Room.
By the 1980s, the University of Waterloo was producing roughly one-third of Canada's computer science graduates.
Some of Waterloo’s developments
Waterloo had a hand in creating both Maple Software and OpenText. Maple Software spawned from a symbolic algebra system created here and OpenText was a spin-off of the project to computerize the Oxford English Dictionary.
Our alumni form the backbone of the local tech economy in Waterloo, and we are extremely proud of the entrepreneurs among them, including the founders of Wish.com and of Maluuba.
Some Academy Award winners are graduates of Waterloo’s Computer Graphics Lab.
Hard-won funding
It’s 1966. The Government of Ontario is willing to pay 90% of the cost of all university buildings, including furnishings. The University of Waterloo needs a larger, faster computer.
After meeting Wes to hear him out, the provincial minister of education announced the University of Waterloo’s plans for a new Mathematics and Computer building had been approved for funding. However, included in the plans was an IBM 360/75, the largest and fastest computer in Canada at that time. It was carefully marked under “furnishings,” ensuring 90% payment by the government.
Quotes
I often fancy that the most practical thing in the world is a good general theory when it’s continually tested and refined against reality.
We have heard about prime numbers, and squaring of the cube, and the good life at the University of Waterloo
Directors of Computer Science
| Years in office | Director |
|---|---|
| 2020–present | Raouf Boutaba |
| 2014–2020 | Mark Giesbrecht On sabbatical Jul 1 – Dec 31, 2018 |
| 2018 | Dan Brown Acting Director Jul 1 – Dec 31, 2018 |
| 2010–2014 | David J. Taylor |
| 2007–2010 | M. Tamer Özsu |
| 2006–2006 | George Labahn Interim Director Jul 1 – Dec 31, 2006 |
| 2003–2006 | Johnny Wong |
| 2002–2003 | Frank Tompa |
Chairs of Computer Science
| Years in office | Chair |
|---|---|
| 2001–2002 | Frank Tompa |
| 1997–2001 | Nick Cercone |
| 1992–1997 | Frank Tompa |
| 1989–1992 | Per-Ake G. (Paul) Larson |
| 1987–1989 | Janusz A. (John) Brzozowski |
| 1984–1987 | R. Bruce Simpson |
| 1978–1984 | Janusz A. (John) Brzozowski |
| 1974–1978 | J. Douglas Lawson |
| 1972–1974 | Patrick C. Fischer |
| 1966–1972 | Donald D. Cowan |