Michael J. Fox appears on the Order of Canada list that also names Dr. Mary Thompson an Officer of the Order of Canada. For Thompson, the honour reaches back to a career that began at the University of Waterloo in the fall of 1969 and has stretched across teaching, research, and public policy work.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Louise Arbour announced the recipients, including 60 other Canadians, and Thompson’s recognition sits in the Officer class of The Order of Canada. That places her among a group reserved for achievements with national reach, not a single campus citation.
Waterloo since 1969
Thompson is Distinguished Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Mathematics at Waterloo. She taught probability and statistics in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, became an expert in survey methodology and longitudinal studies, and led survey design for the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project since 2002.
She also served as a former chair of her department and acting dean of the Faculty, the founding chair of the Women in Mathematics committee at Waterloo, and the first Scientific Director of the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute. That career arc explains why her name landed on the list: the honour is built around sustained work that links statistics to public decision-making, not a single paper or award cycle.
Dean on survey methodology
Dr. Charmaine Dean said that Thompson’s contributions to survey methodology have significantly advanced the way scientists study populations. She also said Thompson embodies Waterloo’s commitment to collaborating across disciplines to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges, and congratulated her colleague on the honour.
Thompson’s own response was pointedly personal: “I feel deeply honoured by this recognition, and grateful for the opportunities to serve that have made it possible,” Thompson said. “It has been a great privilege to be involved in academic pursuits and public policy research here at the University of Waterloo, and in service to the profession across Canada. My profound thanks to the many students and co-workers who have been part of this shared journey.”
Investiture ceremony later
The announcement leaves one practical step outstanding: an investiture ceremony will be scheduled at a later date. The sharper question is what specific public policy outcomes were influenced by Thompson’s statistics work, because the recognition says her research informed policy for more than two decades without naming which policies changed.
