UW mourning death of first woman to serve as dean of Engineering Faculty

UW mourning death of engineering dean From CTV Kitchener’s Leighanne Evans: The first woman to serve as dean of UW’s engineering program has died.

WATERLOO — The first woman to serve as dean of the University of Waterloo's Engineering Faculty has died.

Pearl Sullivan is being remembered as a compassionate, caring leader and a champion of the faculty.

"She was such a strong proponent for women in engineering," current Dean of Engineering Mary Wells said. "She always took time to spend time with you, to find out a little bit about who you are and to focus on you and find out what your aspirations are."

Sullivan was the first woman to helm Waterloo Engineering. She died Saturday after a 12-year battle with cancer.

"Dean Sullivan was a personal friend of mine, and a mentor," Wells said. "She actually recruited me to the University of Waterloo back in 2007."

Wells said Sullivan inspired her.

"I owe her a great debt of gratitude in my own personal career for her leading the way and showing me what could be done," Wells said.

Student Corbin McElhanney, who's in his fourth year of engineering, agrees.

"She had tons of faith in us as students," he said.

McElhanney works as an advisor for UW's Hack the North, a competition that allows students from around the world to bring their ideas to life. He said Sullivan made the program possible.

"She agreed to support them legally, logistically, financially," he said. "She put the force of the engineering brand behind them and gave them all the tools they needed to make this thing happen as they envisioned it."

The faculty will remember her as a champion of research and education.

"Someone who has that kind of energy, that kind of mind for risk-taking and faith to put in students," McElhanney said.

"There's not many people in this world who you know by their first name: Beyonce, Bono, mainly celebrities. Pearl was one of those people, you just had to say her name and everybody knew how she was," Wells said.

A celebration of life is planned for a later date the university and the school will lower its flags to half mast in Sullivan's honour.