The Office of the Vice President Research and International congratulates faculty members who have recently been awarded internal and external prizes for outstanding research.
Please visit the Major External Awards page for an overview of these awards.
Major Recognition Awards & Honours
The Order of Canada - The Governor General of Canada
The Order of Canada is the country’s most distinguished civilian honour. It was awarded in 1967 for the first time and has subsequently become the nation’s highest honour for lifetime achievement. The Order of Canada recognizes outstanding achievements across all areas of Canadian society, acknowledging individuals contributions to the community and nation.
Member of the Order of Canada
Jane Coop (formerly of the School of Music)
Officers of the Order of Canada
Julie Cruikshank (Department of Anthropology)
Clyde Hertzman (Human Early Learning Partnership HELP)
David Scheifele (Division of Infectious and Immunological Diseases) Faculty of Medicine
2011
Officer of the Order of Canada
James McEwen, (Electrical & Computer Engineering & Orthopaedics)
Member of the Order of Canada
John Gilbert, (School of Audiology and Speech Sciences & the College of Health Disciplines)
Fellow - The Royal Society of London
Steve Withers (Chemistry) has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (London). The Royal Society of London is a self-governing Fellowship made up of world-renowned scientists, engineers and technologists from the UK and the Commonwealth. Fellows are elected for life through a peer review process on the basis of excellence in science. Prof. Withers joins the ranks of such scientific greats as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking. There are currently around 1,500 Fellows; only 11 UBC science researchers have been elected to the Society.
J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal - The Royal Society of Canada
Veronica Strong-Boag (Education) has been honoured with the J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal by the Royal Society of Canada, which is awarded "for outstanding work in the history of Canada." It is named in honour of Joseph Burr Tyrrell and is awarded every two years if there is a suitable candidate.
Fellows - The Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada, Academy of Arts, Humanities and Sciences is Canada’s senior national body of distinguished scientists and scholars. Fellowship to the Royal Society of Canada is one of the most prestigious academic distinctions that can be attributed to a Canadian scholar. These individuals are selected based on their outstanding scholarly achievements on both a national and international level through published learned works or through original research in the arts, humanities and sciences.
2012
Susan Boyd, Law
Anne Condon, Computer Science
Michael Doebeli, Zoology
Judy Isles, Neurology
Alan Kingstone, Psychology
2011
Trevor Barnes, Geography
Geraldine Pratt, Geography
Nemkumar Banthia, Civil Engineering
Judith Hall, Medical Genetics and Pediatrics
Patrick Keeling, Botany
Peter Leung,Obstetrics & Gynecology
Wayne Maddison, Botany
Steven Jones, Medical Genetics
Fellow - Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation
Trudeau fellowships are awarded to individuals who set themselves apart through their research achievements, their creativity, and their commitment to public issues of importance to Canada. Catherine Dauvergne, (Law) is one four recipients awarded this prestigious honour for 2012.
Fellows - The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
The Canadian Academy of Health Sciences recognizes individuals of great accomplishment and achievement in the academic health sciences in Canada. Election to fellowship in the Academy is considered one of the highest honours for individuals in the Canadian health sciences community and carries with it a covenant to serve the Academy and the future well-being of the health sciences.
In 2012, six fellows were elected from the Faculty of Medicine:
Jan Friedman, Medical Genetics
Willam Honer, Psychiatry
Andrei Krassioukov, Division of Rehabilitation Medicine
Christian Naus, Cellular & Physiological Sciences
Weihong Song, Psychiatry
Eric Yoshida, Gastroenterology
2011 fellows elected:
Robert Hancock, Microbiology and Immunology
Phil Hieter, Medical Genetics
E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowships - NSERC
Steacie Fellowships are awarded to enhance the career development of outstanding and highly promising university faculty who are earning a strong international reputation for original research. Only six fellowships are awarded annually across Canada. In 2011, Robert Schober (Electrical & Computer Engineering) and Mark Maclachlan (Chemistry) were both awarded 2012 Steacie Memorial Fellowships Andrea Damascelli (Physics & Astronomy) and Ruth Signorell (Chemistry) received Steacie Memorial Fellowships from NSERC in 2011.
Fellow - John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Sally Otto, (Botany) has been elected a Fellow of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Fellowships Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. Candidates are selected for their exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.
Fellows - Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Young-Heon Kim (Department of Mathematics) and Andrew Warfield (Computer Science) received 2012 Sloan Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Sloan Research Fellowships seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise. Awarded annually since 1955, fellowships are given to individuals whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, the next generation of scientific leaders.
The Prix Galien - Prix Galien Canada
The Prix Galien is the most prestigious award in the field of Canadian pharmaceutical research and innovation. Referred to as the Nobel Prize of pharmaceutical research, it recognizes the efforts and achievements of pharmaceutical research and development. Awarded to a researcher, or research team who has made a significant contribution to pharmaceutical research in Canada.
Robert Hancock, (Microbiology and Immunology) has been honoured with the 2012 Prix Galien. Pieter Cullis (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) was awarded the Prix Galien in 2011.
Fellow - American Academy of Nursing
Sally Thorne, (School of Nursing) has been awarded fellowship with the American Academy of Nursing. Invitation to Fellowship is more than recognition of one's accomplishments within the nursing profession. Approximately 1,800 Fellows are nursing leaders in education, management, practice and research. Academy Fellows also have a responsibility to contribute their time and energies to the Academy, and to engage with other health care leaders outside the Academy in transforming America's health care system.
Killam Prize - Canada Council for the Arts
Michael Hayden (Centre for Molecular Medicine & Therapeutics), is the UBC recipient of a prestigious Killam Prize in Health Sciences from the Canada Council for the Arts. The Canada Council for the Arts’ Killam Prizes are among Canada’s most distinguished research awards. The Killam Prizes are intended to honour distinguished Canadian scholars actively engaged in research in Canada in universities, hospitals, research or scientific institutes, or other similar institutions. The awards support scholars engaged in research projects of outstanding merit in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences and engineering. The Killam Prizes are made possible through the Killam Trusts.
Konrad Adenauer Research Prize - The Royal Society of Canada, the University of Toronto, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Dennis Danielson, (English) has been awarded the Konrad Adenauer Research Prize. Established through the generosity of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, this award is made to highly qualified Canadian scholars whose research work in the humanities or in the social sciences has earned international recognition and who are among the group of leading scholars in their respective area of specialization. The aim of the award is to promote academic relations between Canada and the Federal Republic of Germany, and it is presented to honour lifetime academic achievement.
Fellows - John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Sally Otto (Zoology) and Patrick Keeling (Botany) were both awarded 2011 fellowships by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. In its 87th annual competition for the United States and Canada, successful candidates were chosen from a group of almost 3,000 applicants.
Synergy Award for Innovation - NSERC
The annual Synergy Awards for Innovation recognize examples of university-industry collaboration that stand as a model of effective partnership.
Yusuf Altintas (Mechanical Engineering) was awarded the 2012 NSERC Synergy Award or Innovation. The UBC Engineering professor worked with the company to develop mathematical models that simulate parts machining, which removes much of the financial risk of physical trials. By 1992, exceeding all expectations, Altintas’ research had achieved up to 85 per cent cost savings on some machining processes.
Don Mavinic, (Civil Engineering) was awarded the 2010 Synergy Award for Innovation, awarded by NSERC, for his leadership in developing a breakthrough nutrient recovery process, marketed as Crystal Green by UBC spin-off company Ostara Nutrient Recovery Inc.
Manning Innovation Award - Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation
Don Mavinic, (Civil Engineering) was also honoured with the prestigious Manning Innovation Award in 2010. The Manning Innovation Awards are awarded by the Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation to recognize and encourage innovation in Canada. By means of a nomination, Canadian resident citizens, who have demonstrated recent innovative talent in developing and successfully marketing a new concept, process or procedure, may be eligible for a Principal Award. The awards are named for former Alberta Premier Ernest Manning.
Blue Planet Award for Sustainability - Asahi Glass Foundation
William Rees, a professor emeritus at the UBC School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) is co-recipient of the Blue Planet Award for Sustainability for advancing the global conversation around human carrying capacity, ecological economics and environmental policy.
