UWaterloo professor shares “five thoughts of a dying professor” with Class of 2023 in convocation address

At this year’s convocation address for the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Health, Professor Dr Scott Leatherdale delivered a speech titled “Five thoughts of a dying professor.” Leatherdale shared that while he has dedicated his career to cancer prevention research, he has also become a terminal cancer patient himself. With this diagnosis in mind, Leatherdale discussed five life lessons, based on his own experiences with adversity, for the Class of 2023. He encouraged the graduates to be proud of their accomplishments, take calculated risks, practice tolerance, learn from their failures, and, above all, embody resilience. “As you inevitably face adversity in your own life, maybe my story can be a small motivation to remain resilient,” he concluded.