Obituary of Pearl Sullivan
Pearl Sullivan passed away peacefully on November 28, 2020. Beloved wife of Tom for 32 years and mother of Michael (Emma), Veronica and Christina. Pearl is survived by her mother, Christina, brother Paul (Elizabeth), sister Susan and her daughter Tabitha (Michael) all in Malaysia, Susan’s son Mark (Susan) in Florida, sister Dawn (Chai) Australia, their son Benjamin (Sam) and their children Rebecca and Adam in Singapore.
Pearl was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she developed a passion for food and cooking. In 1980, with help from the Lee Foundation of Ipoh, Malaysia, she applied to Dalhousie University in Halifax, where her sister, Dawn, was studying and raising Benjamin. In 1985, Pearl graduated with a Master’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering and followed her heart to Vancouver, where she completed her PhD at UBC in 1990, defending her PhD just 3 days after giving birth to her 1st child, Michael. She was then offered a position at the new Nanyang Technological University in Singapore where she made many lifelong friends and gave birth to her 2nd child, Veronica. After 4 years, Pearl’s love for Canada found her a position in Fredericton at the University of New Brunswick, where she had her 3rd child, Christina. In 2004, Pearl was offered a position to the University of Waterloo where she dedicated the last 16 years.
As a faculty leader she served as Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering from 2006 to 2012, and the first female dean of engineering at the University of Waterloo, sharing her energy and commitment from 2012 to December 2019.
As dean, she established many research and scholarship programs. Her passion was in supporting students to ensure they had a full understanding of engineering principles. She proudly created and led the very successful Educating the Engineer of the Future Campaign that ensured the successful opening of Engineering 7(E7) in 2018. She worked hard to ensure the space was particularly designed to provide unique spaces for students and engineering research.
Pearl was known for her hardworking and enthusiastic approach to taking on every potential opportunity that could serve the students and faculty. She expanded the potential for Waterloo Engineering’s industry collaboration and government support in key areas of engineering research. She campaigned the Faculty’s research work in disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, nanotechnology, robotics and wireless communications.
As the fourth female Canadian dean of any engineering faculty, Pearl prided herself in being a strong voice for women and in ensuring diversity and inclusion in the discipline. She was also a strong advocate for entrepreneurship and she both elevated and campaigned the entrepreneurial students and alumni.
Pearl was a beloved dean, department chair and faculty member. She was a force of nature, always fearlessly working to advance Waterloo Engineering and the opportunities of our students and faculty. She was a compassionate and caring teacher who was devoted to all students. She loved celebrating their success and was always there with a helping and comforting hand when it was needed.
She is irreplaceable and the memory of her personal strength will always be a beacon of courage for us all. As she took on every challenge, she faced her battle with cancer as a warrior.
She was grateful for the support and love from her friends, colleagues, doctors, nurses and family. Due to the recent COVID-19 lock down a celebration of life will be held at a later date at the University of Waterloo. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Canadian Cancer Society - for we will always be grateful for their miraculous work over the past decade. More details on how we will honour Pearl’s life and her enormous contribution to the Faculty of Engineering and the University of Waterloo will be shared in the near future.
The funeral service for Pearl Sullivan will not be live streamed.