Brent Hall
Dr. Brent Hall is a Professor of Planning and Geography and
Associate Dean, Computing Faculty of Environmental Studies,
University of Waterloo. Waterloo, Ontario Canada.
Dr. Brent Hall has rightfully earned the respect of his students
and colleagues as an academic, an educator and a mentor.
Below is a compilation of heartfelt thanks from current and former
students to his commitment, care and difference made in our
university education.
Brent's dedication to his students is tireless, unwavering and
repeatedly going beyond expectations. For a full professor
with many administrative tasks Brent is never too busy to meet with
his students. His office door is open from 8am until 6pm five
days a week. During weekends and evenings, students can expect to
receive near instantaneous responses to emails sent at ungodly
hours demonstrating that Brent is truly never 'off the job'.
Brent treats his responsibility not merely as a professor or
supervisor, but as a mentor. Brent takes great
personal interest in his students in terms of their studies, their
interests, and their career path. This interest, which often
continues well after graduation, is in developing students to their
full potential. For example, in his work in developing
countries, where he brings many of his graduate students, he is
very conscious that his students are not just experiencing the
development and implementation of GIS facilities, but also
appreciating conditions in a world very different from their
own. Another example is helping many students prepare for job
interviews as well as provide them guidance and advice about their
futures in the work place and/or academia.
Brent's approach to teaching differs from the common student
experience, challenging the common precepts and techniques of many
educators known to students at the University of Waterloo.
For example, never has a teacher truly taught how to ask the right
question before teaching how to answer it - an entire side of the
equation that is so often forgotten. Nor has a teacher so
fully inspired a team atmosphere, and sense of equality among
student and professor. The openness of his classes led not
only to a deeper level of learning because students unafraid to ask
the next question, are also led to the development of a network of
trusted people.
To be an effective educator, one needs to not only present
material to students in the classroom, successful teachers instill
a sense of motivation and empowerment to push the limits of their
study to challenge tasks previously thought as inconceivable. Brent
has the ability to do those latter components well and more
importantly maintain and expand students' respect for him both
professionally and personally. Those challenges enabled his
students to work hard to generate assignments, reports, and
presentations in a professional manner.
Finally, Dr. Brent Hall is a warm hearted and nice person. He
spends time nurturing students with different challenges. One
student retells his story. "As a Chinese and non-English native
speaker, writing in a professional way is a big obstacle to
overcome. When Brent realized this, he helped me with grammatical
corrections for assignments in his class and for my master thesis,
although he was not even a committee member".
In Chinese, 'teaching' has two characters, 'shi' and "fan'. Each
of them has its own meaning: 'shi' means to teach students
knowledge and techniques in a professional area; and 'fan' means to
show students a good example of being a great person. Brent
demonstrates these qualities, the perfect model of an educator.
We are overjoyed at Brent's success in this award and honoured
to share the difference that Brent has made in our learning,
personal growth, and values instilled.
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