Pearl Sullivan

Pearl Sullivan (1961 – November 28, 2020) was a Malaysian Canadian engineer and the former Dean of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, the first woman to hold the position.

Early life and education Sullivan was born in 1961 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and immigrated to Canada in the 1980s. She graduated from the Technical University of Nova Scotia, now part of Dalhousie University, in 1985 with a master's degree in Metallurgical Engineering.

Academic career Shortly after completing her studies she accepted a position at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 1991. She served as Chair of the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering from 2006 until January 2012. In 2012 Sullivan was named the Dean of Engineering, becoming the first woman to hold the position at Waterloo.

Legacy Professor Sullivan was a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

In November 2025, after a $20 million donation by the Gloria Baylis Foundation, the University of Waterloo Faculty of Engineering renamed its flagship Engineering building from Engineering 7 (E7) to Pearl Sullivan Engineering (PSE) in her honor, with Waterloo Engineering dean Mary Wells stating "Pearl was a force of nature ... Engineering 7 is thanks to Pearl."

Death Sullivan died on November 28, 2020, of cancer. At the time of her death she had been dealing with the illness for 12 years.