The Purple Squirrel Award for Academic Diversity

Andy Chan started his UVic journey as a music and computer science double major but ultimately graduated in Pacific and Asian Studies after a year abroad at National Taiwan University. He then went on to study Law and practiced for 10 years before transitioning to software engineering. Ada Liu studied Economics at Simon Fraser University with a certificate in Urban Studies, which opened the door to graduate work in Landscape Urbanism at the Architectural Association School of Architecture.

Andy and Ada highly value interdisciplinary exploration and faced many challenges navigating non-traditional career paths, both financially and personally. This award reflects their belief that the university experience is enriched by curiosity across fields, and aims to support “purple squirrels” in embracing their pursuit to become even more purple.