Innovative former UW president dies
‘He was always pushing the boundaries’ as he embraced startup culture
WATERLOO — Former University of Waterloo president and its first dean of engineering, Douglas Wright, has passed away at 92.
Wright was the university’s third president and vice-chancellor from 1981 to 1993. He was the founding dean of the faculty of engineering at just 32.
A UW documentary on the school’s early days called Wright one of the “original disrupters.”
He thought that, in addition to co-operative education, theoretical research could be another way for the university to distinguish itself.
When Wright joined the fledgling institution in 1958 as the first chair of civil engineering, it was just one building — which bears Wright’s name in recognition of his profound and lasting impact on the university’s development.
Wright saw a unique opportunity to re-envision how engineering was taught. He wholeheartedly embraced the challenge.
“When he came to Waterloo, it was because it was a blank slate,” said Ken McLaughlin, Waterloo alumnus, professor emeritus and historian. “It’s Doug’s vision and Doug’s ideas that really put Waterloo on the map as a real university.”
Wright was full of ideas, and always focused on looking to the future rather than the past, McLaughlin said.
He recruited other young professors to help propel the university forward by embracing new ideas and new ways of doing things.
“He was always pushing the boundaries,” McLaughlin said. “There’s so much he did that people aren’t even aware of.”
With Wright at the helm, the university attracted the support of major computer companies like IBM Canada. A major fundraising campaign led to construction beginning in 1984 on would become known as the William G. Davis Centre for Computer Research.
Wright embraced the culture of startups that encouraged university-based research to be spun off into viable companies, McLaughlin said, and that culture of innovation and entrepreneurship became a Waterloo tradition.
Wright studied civil engineering at the universities of Toronto, Illinois and Cambridge, where he received a PhD. He taught for a few years at Queen’s University, until 1958 when he joined Waterloo.
He started as the first chair of civil engineering before becoming dean. During his tenure, Waterloo developed the largest undergraduate school of engineering in Canada.
“Doug played a formative role in the establishment and growth of the University of Waterloo throughout his career,” Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor, said in a post on UW’s website honouring Wright.
“His keen intellect, leadership and dedication to excellence were extraordinary. All of Canada has lost a true leader, but we remain better for having Doug Wright part of it.”
Wright was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991 and received 12 honorary degrees.
After leaving the university, Wright continued to be involved in engineering as a member of technical committees, and as an adviser on the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto which was the first stadium at the time to have a fully retractable roof.
His other roles included: advising the governments of Ontario and Canada; posts as deputy minister at Queen’s Park; and director of a number of corporations including COMDEV, Electrohome, and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion.
Born in 1927 in Toronto, Wright passed away Thursday at home with his wife and family at his side. He is survived by five children and his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
His obituary says a celebration of life will be planned after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. His family asks that, if desired, donations in his memory be made to the University of Waterloo.